


Last Summer

by Pembrooke330



Category: Archie Comics, Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Heartache, Jeronica, Jughead x Veronica, Love, Riverdale, Riverdale AU, Sex, Veronica x Jughead, Vughead, archie comics - Freeform, high school seniors, hiram lodge - Freeform, jughead jones x veronica lodge - Freeform, veronica lodge x jughead jones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-09-21 13:41:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 55,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17044781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pembrooke330/pseuds/Pembrooke330
Summary: The story takes place in the middle of Veronica and Jughead's senior year of high school. They are 18 now, and have been through more than most teenagers could even fathom ever since the Riot Night of Riverdale nearly two years earlier.But the summer before 12th grade is one that they are both trying to forget, and for the same reason. They just don't know it yet...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jeronicaismylife](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=jeronicaismylife).



> This is a gift for my Jeronica Secret Santa, Stella, aka, @jeronicaismylife on Tumblr!
> 
> Stella, you said you love the enemies to lovers trope, so I hope you like this!!! 
> 
> This is a chapter fic of 50,000+ words that has already been fully written, so expect daily updates!

Veronica Lodge woke up from the dream startled and trembling.

But to her misfortune, it wasn’t really a dream. In fact, it was a memory that she had tried so hard to suppress but it still came to her in her sleep, regardless of how much she wanted to be rid of it.

The sweat soaked skin, the hair in her face, hot breath on her neck, wet lips, muscular chest, hands all over her. It was a hedonistic play of passion unlike she’d ever known before, and her subconscious refused to let her forget.

She quickly grabbed her phone as it lay on her bedside table and shot a quick text to her current beau, Sweetpea Malone.

_Good morning, wanna meet for coffee at Pop’s?_

While she waited for his reply, she climbed out of her bed, half reluctantly. It was a Saturday, after all, and she wasn’t as excited about her weekend plans as she knew she should be.

Cheryl was throwing her annual Christmas Cocktail Cotillion and Veronica had promised that she and Sweetpea would show up to be one of the couples to take part in the dance that kicked off a night of drunken hookups, couple quarrels, makeups and breakups, and all other types of teenage tomfooleries that happened at a party where no parents would be in attendance all due to Cheryl’s emancipation.

The party, and subsequent dance, was not Sweetpea’s scene at all, but Veronica had promised to put a bid on one of the many open bedrooms in the Blossom mansion for her and Sweetpea to spend the night in together.

He had readily agreed to do whatever she wanted.

“I’ll even wear a fucking _bowtie_ if it means you’ll wear that red thong that I love so much.” He’d said when Veronica had told him the deal.

“Merry Christmas to _you_.” She had replied before kissing him feverishly in the middle of the hallway of Riverdale High.

Dating Sweetpea was fun. He was one of the most sought after guys at school, but he had always been partial to the Southside girls, mostly Serpent girls. Veronica had been determined to land him, and after laying a lot of groundwork, she finally had.

It wasn’t the ideal relationship, seeing as how Sweetpea was much more interested in his gang, his motorcycle, and sex, over anything else. But it had its plus sides too.

For example, Veronica had been much more accepted among the Serpents, even after everything her father had done a year and a half earlier. Sweetpea had given her speakeasy, La Bonne Nuit, a lot more credibility by frequenting it on the regular, along with other Serpents in tow. And he had a fantastic ability to intimidate Hiram Lodge into keeping his distance from his estranged daughter, which Veronica was most grateful for.

Ever since her father had tried to have Jughead Jones killed, and had Archie thrown into jail, she had been finished with him.

“I’ll never be able to trust you.” She had told Hiram just a few weeks earlier when he had made his most recent attempt at trying to get his daughter to join forces with him again.

She had meant what she said. As much as she would always love her father, she just couldn’t get past all the horrible things he had done, and she doubted she ever would.

“You are my daughter, and I’ll always love you. And I’ll always be waiting for you to return to helping me run Lodge Industries, side by side.” Was all his reply had been.

She was in the middle of her senior year, already 18-years-old, and her father still hadn’t given up. She couldn’t wait until she graduated from high school. She would sell Pop’s and the speakeasy, and then leave Riverdale to go someplace where her father would never find her. She would no longer have to deal with him trying to convince her that she was making a mistake with how she was living her life. She could be completely free of the nightmare she’d been living in for two years.

And maybe she would also be free of the dream she kept having over and over, that wouldn’t seem to leave her alone. Escaping everything seemed to be the only path to happiness.

\---

Jughead had to remember to keep his eyes open, locked on Betty’s as he hovered over her, making her whimper with each thrust of his cock.

But it was a lot more difficult than it used to be.

He attributed it to the way Betty had broken his heart over the summer when she had ended their almost two year courtship.

He had never quite gotten over how painful it had been. Even when she had wanted him back right before the beginning of the school year. Betty had seemed so sincere, to the point where she hadn’t even so much as whispered Archie Andrew’s name ever since she and Jughead had gotten back together.

The biggest fear Jughead had ever had, when it came to his relationship with the blonde girl-next-door, was the day she would throw him over for the redheaded jock turned musician. It was almost as if he had worried it into existence the day that Betty told him that if she didn’t explore what she felt for Archie, that she would only end up resenting him, her first _real_ love, her Serpent king, the guy who had nearly _died_ in order to keep her safe.

“Do what you need to do, Betty. But I can’t promise I’ll still be around when you come to your senses.” He had told her as they’d sat in the cab of his father’s truck at the newly renovated Twilight Drive-In that Veronica had purchased by finding some kind of loophole in her father’s contract with the city of Riverdale.

It had been a steamy, early summer night. The month of June had barely sunk its hot, sticky teeth into the movie-goers skin as he and Betty kept the windows down, much to her insistence.

It didn’t take long for Jughead to figure out that she had wanted the lack of privacy in the hopes that Jughead wouldn’t cause a scene when she told him the truth of why they had gone to a movie in the first place, after she had practically ignored him for the last few weeks of school, citing final exams and the last edition of the Blue and Gold before summer break keeping her too busy to even have lunch together by their favorite tree on the back lawn of the high school campus.

“I’m sorry, Juggy, but…I _need_ to do this. I really hope you understand someday.”

But he never really understood, not completely.

And even though he and Betty had given things between them another shot, there was still something missing.

“It’s like you have one foot out the door at all times.” Betty had said to him a month earlier when she’d noticed how quiet he had been ever since they’d rekindled their relationship.

“Well, what do you expect? You broke my heart, and protecting myself is just a natural instinct.” He’d told her.

But she had only rolled her eyes, tired of feeling guilty about what she’d done.

“When will you stop punishing me?” She’d asked.

Jughead had shrugged, truly having no idea when he would get over his distrust of the only girl he had ever loved. It had been a repetitive argument, one they had often, and they were both getting tired of it. Something would have to give because neither one were going to be able to continue this way for much longer.

But it wasn’t just what Betty had done to him that seemed to plague his heart and his mind. There was a constant nagging within him that he couldn’t seem to get rid of. It was disarming and frustrating and it all had to do with the way he had attempted to quell the ache he’d felt during the summer.

“Stop shutting your eyes.” Betty panted as she bucked her hips against him.

“You know how much I hate it when you shut your eyes.”

Jughead leaned down to kiss her, to assure her that it hadn’t been intentional, that his plan had been to kiss her all along.

“Oh fuck…yes… _Juggy_ ….fuck me… _fuck_ me…” She murmured against his mouth before allowing his tongue to stroke hers.

He could feel her come hard against him, her body squirming as she tried to keep her groans quiet in hopes her mother wouldn’t hear them.

Jughead came with her, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. He couldn’t help it. The only way he could fuck his girlfriend properly anymore was to close his eyes.

And he wasn’t as ashamed by it as he should be.

\---

 

Veronica stifled a yawn as she stood with Sweetpea, Fangs, Toni, and a handful of other Serpents in the parking lot of Pop’s. It was one of the few places in town where they could park their motorcycles in a circle and compare their new chrome exhaust pipes, vinyl seat covers, and tire combos. She tried to be interested in what they were talking about, to be interested in Sweetpea’s monotonous world of roughneck carousing and ardent “Serpent duty”, but it was a tough performance on her part.

But there _were_ the times when her ears would perk up at hearing a secondhand story about some trouble a fellow Serpent had run into, some Ghoulie throw down, or a confrontation with the wretched Penny Peabody. She enjoyed hearing about the late night missions or scrappy turf wars, and the only time she winced was when stories of her father’s treachery were brought up.

Eyes always slanted towards her at the mention of Hiram, and she could feel herself curling up her shoulders in shame, wanting nothing more than to sink her head into the shearling lining of her Burberry Tolladine coat.

“It’s okay, V.” Sweetpea would assure her whenever she began to shirk away from the group.

He would wrap an arm around her waist and pull her towards him, sweeping back her hair before kissing her deeply and heatedly in front of all of them. It made her feel incredibly awkward, and ridiculous, but the fact that Sweetpea seemed to like showing her off made her tolerate the gratuitous display of affection in front of practical strangers.

And it’s what he was doing at that very moment, his hand making itself at home on the small of her back. His thumb lightly stroking the intimate area as he laughed about some memory from time spent at the Quarry, when Fangs had been dared to skinny dip in the middle of a frigid March morning.

“Having fun playing trophy wife?” Came a distinctly annoyed voice.

Veronica whipped around in the middle of the tale to see Jughead Jones approaching the group, glaring at her presence among his flock.

“It beats playing teen king of the nomads.” She shot back.

Jughead smirked.

“Better be careful, princess. You’re dating one of the nomads, which makes _you_ a nomad by association.”

Veronica folded her arms across her chest.

“The nomads are great, it’s their leader that needs a head check.” She sneered.

Jughead shook his head.

“Yeah, I’ll take your advice when you follow your own.”

She rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to Sweetpea, who hadn’t been paying any attention to the less than friendly exchange between the Serpent king and his girlfriend.

“Hey babe, can we get going? I want to get you a matching tie to go with my dress for the party.”

Sweetpea nearly choked on his to-go cup of coffee.

“A tie? V, I was joking when I said I would actually wear one.” He said as the other Serpents chuckled, all except for Toni who was giving him the same evil eye as Veronica was.

“Wow, Veronica, you really think you’re _that_ special that Pea would wear a tie at some lame ass party for you?” Jughead asked, his tone as snide as always when it came to speaking to her.

Veronica could feel the heat in her face, the all too familiar feeling of humiliation that she had felt countless times in the past couple of years.

Life hadn’t been easy ever since she’d decided to go it alone. She was barely an adult and already out trying to make it by herself.

Running Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit while going to school and paying rent at her trailer at the Sunnyside Trailer Park, the only place she could afford, had made her understand how real and how tough life could be. She’d fallen on her face more times than she could count, and she certainly couldn’t let her boyfriend’s lack of participating properly in the holiday social event of the season be added to the list of total flops she’d had to overcome.

She gave Jughead a smug look before turning back to Sweetpea, a teasing smile spreading over her lips.

“No tie, no thong.” She replied matter-of-factly as she quickly removed the pair of red panties from under her dress and tossed them to Toni, who burst into laughter at the spectacle as she caught them in her hand.

The collective laughs and shouts from the rest of the Serpent members didn’t seem to phase Sweetpea in the slightest as he gazed at Veronica, a sly grin on his handsome face.

“Nicely done, babe. And I’ll return those to you tonight when I pick you up…wearing my matching bowtie.”

\---

 

“Are we leaving soon?” Jughead asked with a fractious sigh as he stood next to Betty in the middle of Cheryl’s grand ballroom that she had turned into some kind of warped Disney version of a winter wonderland hopped up on a combo of amphetamines and Mountain Dew.

“Jug, we’ve only been here for 15 minutes.” Betty replied as she grabbed a glass of champagne from a server dressed up like a penguin, complete with a bowtie and top hat.

“Drinking tonight?” Jughead asked skeptically.

Betty had taken up some uncharacteristic new habits during the time that she and Jughead had been broken up. And Jughead hadn’t quite gotten used to this new version of the girl that he thought he’d known better than the back of his hand.

The time away had made them different, both of them.

At first, he had been sure that they could navigate through the changes, but they’d been back together for a few months now and things still seemed off. Jughead mostly blamed himself. He blamed himself for his hang-ups about Betty, how she had hurt him, how secretive she was about her time as Archie’s girlfriend, and how he didn’t see her as the innocent girl-next-door that she had once been. It wasn’t fair to Betty, and it wasn’t fair to him either.

How would they ever be sublimely happy again if he couldn’t get past the pain?

“It’s a party, Jug. Why don’t you try to loosen up and have a drink too? Try something _new_ for once.”

There was a bitter hint in Betty’s reply that brought an immediate scowl to his face, as if she was bored by him and his lack of partaking in the obscene amounts of booze Cheryl had managed to acquire for the occasion.

But what Betty hadn’t known was how dangerously close Jughead had gotten to a downward spiral of alcohol addiction over the summer when he had been trying to nurse his wounded heart.

And how that close encounter to complete dependence had led him to do his own amount of questionable things.

He didn’t want to go back to that place. It was in the past, and it needed to stay there.

Instead of allowing another fight to show its ugly face, Jughead left Betty, who was chatting away with Josie, to go find a quiet corner where he could brood in peace until Betty was ready for him to take her home. He still wasn’t sure why he had even come to the party. Betty hadn’t forced him, she would have been fine with him sitting this one out, but he had still felt compelled to show up.

He considered the fact that it might all be because he didn’t trust Betty to be at a party without him, especially when she’d taken such a sudden interest in pricey beverages in sparkly, glass flutes.

Jughead easily found a spot by the open back patio, where he could catch a breath of the cool, evening air when he suddenly heard an argument happening behind the door leading out onto the dark night.

“Can’t you at least just _pretend_ you’re having a good time with me here? You’re making me look like an idiot!”

Jughead immediately recognized the restive voice of Veronica Lodge.

“Come on, V. You know I only came to this thing to get drunk for free and then fuck you in that fancy schmancy room upstairs. Why are you trying to force me to behave like some kind of Northsider asshole?” Slurred an obviously very drunk Sweetpea.

Jughead knew that he should walk away from the spot, feeling guilty about listening in on a conversation that he wasn’t supposed to be hearing, but something kept his feet planted.

“That’s the only reason why you came here tonight? Really? What about, oh I don’t know, actually giving a _damn_ about me?”

Jughead could hear the heavy sigh of a man who had been backed into a corner, figuratively and literally.

“Well, I definitely didn’t come here to fight with you out in the cold. I’m leaving, V. Call me later if you want me to come over to your place, but I’m not sticking around this hoity toity bullshit any longer.”

Jughead stepped back, anticipating the way Sweetpea would come barreling through the door and towards the main exit of the ballroom, not even noticing his friend standing there, but close enough to have heard every single word.

Next to come through that doorway would be Veronica.

Jughead leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. He would do his best to not acknowledge her existence, just like he had been doing for months.

“Did you hear all of that?”

Veronica _had_ seen him standing there, unlike Sweetpea.

Jughead glared at her.

“Should have known better than to try and sucker him into being your arm candy.”

Veronica stuck up her chin defiantly.                                                                      

“What do _you_ care what I do anyway?”

Jughead shrugged.

“I don’t. But watching all you Northside girls trying to train Serpents into being your perfect pedigree boyfriends is getting old.”

Veronica smirked.

“Oh yeah? Is that what Betty is doing to _you_? She got you back after all, right? Guess training a Serpent to be the obedient boyfriend works better than you thought. Even _after_ she fucked your best friend all summer.”

Jughead clenched his jaw as a visceral anger coursed through his veins. Her words were the lowest of blows.

“At least she _wanted_ me back. I don’t think Archie even remembers your name anymore. I guess he’s more into blonde beauties than black haired _bitches_.”

In a flash, Veronica was in front of him, and a sharp sting hit his face like a thousand needles. She had slapped him, and hard. If it hadn’t pissed him off so much, he would have been impressed.

“ _Fucking_ _hell_!” He yelped.

“And you wonder why you keep getting dumped!” Jughead growled angrily as he watched her stomp off in her silver stilettos away from him.

He rubbed his cheek, knowing he must have a hand-shaped red mark on his face that needed to go away before anyone saw it. Especially Betty. He didn’t want to have to explain why he had deserved the slap in the first place.

 

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

“I hate him!”

Veronica shouted as she removed her dress and tossed it onto the floor of her bedroom. She grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of her Rivervixen shorts out of her dresser. This was not how she had thought her evening would go.

“Who? Sweetpea or Jughead?” Kevin asked as he picked up the dress and put it on the hanger, unable to watch such a pretty item of clothing that Veronica had worked so hard to buy, be treated so shabbily from her blind anger.

“Sweetpea, of course. Hating Jughead would mean that I actually gave a shit about that fucking loser. Which I _don’t_. He can go to hell for all I care.”

Kevin chuckled.

“That actually sounds _a lot_ like hatred to me, Ronnie.”

Veronica rolled her eyes. Thank goodness Kevin had been willing to bring her home and stick around with her at the second rate trailer she lived in instead of at the biggest party of the year in the town’s most amazing mansion. He was a true friend and had been since the day she’d met him.

And he was the only one who knew all of her secrets. Every single one.

“Well, it’s not. I’m just…I’m pissed _off_ , Kevin. Sweetpea totally bailed on me!”

Kevin sighed, shaking his head as if he understood something that Veronica was refusing to see.

“Come on, Veronica. You know how much Sweetpea hates anything that has to do with the Northside. I mean, just look at how hard you had to work to get him to _date_ you. You’re lucky he even went to the party at all. Trying to get him to fit into your world when you barely even live in that world yourself, was probably asking too much. And you know it. What are you trying to prove?”

Veronica collapsed on her bed with a long sigh.

“Ugh, I don’t know, Kevin. That I can still get one of the hottest guys in school after being dumped by one of the _other_ hottest guys in school? You know how much I hate admitting that Archie fucked up my ego big time.”

Kevin gave her a thoughtful nod.

“Hey, who can blame you? Your ego has taken more hits than Mohammad Ali in the last couple of years. But do you think that Sweetpea is really the answer? He doesn’t even know the difference between Rembrandt and Renoir, for fucks sake.”

Veronica laughed.

“A lot of people don’t know the difference between them, Kev.”

Kevin shrugged as a grin formed on his face.

“Jughead does.”

Veronica shot a look at her friend as if she was trying to project laser beams from her eyes to disintegrate him for that particular comment.

“Do _not_ go there.”

Kevin put up his hands defensively.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. But I _had_ to.” He said with a boisterous chuckle.

Veronica frowned.

“No you didn’t. Besides, I barely remember what happened last summer. It’s so far in the past that it’s not even worth talking about.”

But Kevin didn’t look the least bit convinced.

“You still have never said anything to him about it?”

Veronica shook her head.

“No, and I never will. It’s in the past, Kevin. So can we please stop talking about it now?”

Kevin sighed.

“Fine, but just know that I don’t agree with you about ignoring something like that. I just think you and Jughead would be—“

But Veronica cut him off by holding up her hand.

“Seriously, do _not_ finish that sentence if you want to remain besties forever. I loathe Jughead, and he loathes me, and it’s best that things stay that way.”

\---

 

Jughead didn’t stick around Betty’s house after he dropped her off. She was messy drunk and babbling her apologies to him about her brief conversation with Archie that Jughead had caught her having.

“He was just saying hello, Juggy. It wasn’t _anything_. You didn’t have to get so mad.” Betty lamented as Jughead helped her get ready for bed.

But Jughead had held the steering wheel in his dad’s truck on the ride to the Cooper house so hard that his knuckles were white from the pressure.

There was no way he was interested in staying overnight at Betty’s. The only punishment he could really give her was his absence. And yet, he found himself looking out the window of Betty’s room that faced Archie’s own window, questioning if maybe he should, in fact, stick around.

But the lights were out, and Archie’s car wasn’t in the driveway. He wasn’t home, and Jughead felt a peace knowing he was out somewhere still, and not waiting for a second attempt to speak to Betty.

Jughead sighed as he entered the trailer park, never able to come home without thinking about how much money Veronica Lodge had sunk into getting Sunnyside Trailer Park back under its prior ownership and no longer under the rule of her father.

She even paid rent for her own trailer, and he passed by it every time he came and went.

He thought about their exchange earlier that night. It had been brutal. But that’s how things had been between them ever since the summer.

Granted, he and Veronica had always had a cantankerous relationship, but there had also been an underlying tenderness for each other that neither one would ever dare verbally admit to.

Things between them had taken a turn, though. Jughead hadn’t ever wanted to trust her after everything that her father had done, and how she had even helped Hiram. He could only see her as one thing, and one thing alone: a criminal, just like her parents.

But then she started to try and prove herself as an ally. And not only as an ally but as a friend too. She had proved herself as someone he could lean on. He let himself be vulnerable to her, vulnerable to the point where he gave into something he had never thought he would do.

It had been such a hot summer. They were all met with a blistering heat during the day only to have it simmer just enough to be somewhat bearable once the sun had set.

Cooling off with ice cold beers that Jughead had been hiding in his messenger bag seemed to be the only thing to hold off the stifling summer a little more than just a chocolate shake at Pop’s could. And it had been a Serpent party at The Quarry where Jughead had opened every single one of those beers, downing each one right after another. Dulling his heartache while also giving him some much needed peace to just enjoy the tepid water they were all swimming in. The moon shining on their wet skin, making them all look like creatures of the night that had emerged from the dark woods to get some relief from the balmy evening.

Veronica had been there too. She had shown up with Toni and Cheryl. She had been pulling double duty at her club and Pop's, and he had never seen someone work so hard.

He had witnessed Veronica waiting tables at Pop’s, for which she had owned for just a little over a year now. Her inky hair was pulled up into a loose ponytail, her yellow uniform clung to her mercilessly, as if it had been waiting for her to fill it, knowing she would have no other choice but to walk up and down the aisle of tables instead of sitting back and letting other people handle the grunt work.

In the early days of her ownership of the beloved diner, she didn’t say much to him when he would stop in before his shift at the Drive-In to grab a burger. But she never charged him. A check never showed up with his order. And the one time he’d asked Pop about it, all the former proprietor said was that “Miss. Lodge” had taken care of it.

Jughead didn’t want to owe her anything, but he couldn’t help but understand her need to make things square between them.

And then there were the nights when she would be hosting all her friends and acquaintances at La Bonne Nuit. She was always stunning and always with a smile on her face no matter how tired she was from her day serving the masses their hamburgers and milkshakes.

So when he saw her splashing in the water with the rest of the Serpents, he found himself smiling. He could only imagine the last time Veronica had been given a summer where she was allowed to be young and reckless for a little bit. He was beyond pleased to see the way she smiled so brightly, even after what her best friend and ex-boyfriend had done to break her heart.

If anyone could understand, it had been Jughead.

“Giving yourself a night off?” He’d asked her as he swam over to where she’d been playing around in the water.

Veronica smiled brightly at the sight of him, and he realized how good it felt to have someone look so happy to see him.

“Hell yeah, I am. In fact, I did the forbidden. I closed the diner down for the night. Figured _everyone_ deserved to play hooky if I was going to.”

Jughead smiled at her, completely under the spell of the night sky, the full moon, and how he and Veronica had slowly drifted away from everyone else and into their own little world. The memory haunted him, and his heart throbbed a little harder every time he began to let himself remember that night.

But Jughead was abruptly jerked out of his thoughts when he saw Kevin Keller walking from Veronica’s front door to his old, Ford Escort.

“You probably shouldn’t be around these parts so late at night, Keller. Daddy can’t protect you from the Southside thugs now that he isn’t sheriff anymore.” Jughead said as he slowed down his dad's truck.

“Well, I had to make sure my friend got home okay seeing as how she had to deal with not just one, but _two_ , major assholes tonight.” Kevin retorted as he gave Jughead an accusatory look.

Jughead chuckled, shaking his head as if Kevin was beyond naïve.

“Do you ever stop to think that maybe Veronica brings some of this shit on herself? She’s no angel, you know.”

Kevin nodded.

“She’s no angel. That’s true, Jughead. But she’s not the devil either. And you should know that better than anyone.”

Jughead scowled, unable to come back with anything other than a grunt as Kevin smirked with satisfaction over having had the last word.

So instead Jughead rolled up his window and headed to his own trailer, wishing he’d never said a word to Kevin Keller in the first place. All it had done was remind him of all that Veronica had done to reinstate all Jughead had ever known of growing up in Riverdale.

He knew she’d worked hard to get back the Drive-In and the trailer park. It had cost her a lot, but it had solidified her loyalty to Riverdale, and to the Southside of town. As much as Jughead wanted to believe she had ulterior motives, she had done nothing to demonstrate that she had some kind of secret, evil plan in mind. It was obvious that Veronica Lodge was not her father.

But Hiram Lodge was still skulking around Riverdale, still trying to create chaos and fear. Fortunately, Hermione Lodge hadn’t allowed the building of the prison, seeing as how she was the mayor and had decided to let the people of Riverdale vote on whether or not they wanted the for profit jail built in their town.

The building of the prison had sunk like the cement stone it would have been built from. The vote had been in favor of no prison, and the whole idea was gloriously quashed.

Now there were rumors that he was running drug dens of jingle jangle all over town with help from the Ghoulies. The Serpents were busily, and quietly, developing some way of finding the dens and destroying them. But they moved often, and they moved quickly. As soon as Jughead would catch wind of where one of the drug shops was located, it would be gone by the time his team went to raid it.

Not being able to get ahead of the situation was frustrating. And Jughead only knew of one person who could help him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t willing to ask. And even if he wanted to, he didn’t think he even could.

\---

 

“Oh…oh yeah… _yes_ …keep…going…” Veronica whispered softly as she lay in her bed, her hands threaded in Sweetpea’s hair as he worked her core with his talented mouth, his tongue swirling and sucking her clit, trying his very best to bring her to her climax as his way of apologizing to her for how he had behaved a few nights earlier at Cheryl’s party.

But something just wasn’t right. It never was. And she would have to resort to faking her orgasm like she’d often had to do whenever she was with Sweetpea.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t good, he just wasn’t as good as some of her past experiences. One past experience in particular.

“Did you come?” Sweetpea panted as he crawled up onto the bed to lay down next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist as he lay his head on her breasts.

“Yeah…absolutely. That was amazing, babe.” She lied as she reached over and turned off the bedside table lamp.

She was tired from her shift at Pop’s, having had to deal with middle schoolers that never tipped, the grumpy post office worker who was never satisfied with how hot the soup was, the woman with the crying baby that asked Veronica to warm the bottle of milk at least five times, and a barrage of other customers that had been less than kind or appreciative as she did her best to give them the kind of service that Pop’s had always been known for even prior to her owning it.

It was to the point that she didn’t even have the energy to ask Sweetpea to leave so she could sleep alone. He seemed to like staying the night with her, and she often found it comforting, but tonight she wasn’t in the mood to talk or to fight or to go another round of unsatisfying sex.

Instead, she began to drift asleep, but still conscious enough to hope that her disappointing romp between the sheets with Sweetpea wouldn’t bring on the dream that had been plaguing her a lot more frequently as of late.

But fortunately, when she awoke the next morning, she was able to breathe a sigh of relief. She hadn’t had the dream, at least, she hadn’t remembered having it. She’d had some peace, and she hoped that it meant she would be having even more peaceful nights.

She looked over to see that Sweetpea had left, probably sometime during the night, but he had left a note.

_You were so restless in your sleep that I thought maybe I should leave. I’ll see you at school, gorgeous.”_

_-P_

“Fuck.” She muttered as she sat up and ran a hand through her bed hair.

Maybe she hadn’t escaped the dream after all, she just didn’t remember having dreamt it again.

At school she felt on edge, constantly wondering how things were going at Pop’s in her absence. The diner was everything. It was her livelihood. It was all she had left. She hated not being there. She hated being at school.

“It’s the last week of school before Christmas break, Ronnie. Could you try to look a little more excited?” Kevin asked as he fell in step next to her while she walked towards her economics class.

“Trust me, I’m elated. But I’m already thinking about having to return after the New Year.”

Kevin chuckled.

“Well, you could always talk to the guidance counselor about getting into the co-op program. You’d only have to be here for a couple of hours in the morning and you’d only be in Mrs. Snippet’s room.”

Veronica sighed.

“Or I could just quit school altogether.” She replied, actually finding herself perk up at the thought of never having to return to the dismal high school for which her only friends were Sweetpea, Kevin, Cheryl and Toni. And she could see them anytime outside of school.

“If you’re actually considering quitting school, then you’re even more delusional that I previously thought.”

Veronica looked up to see Jughead standing by his locker, his arms crossed, his predictable glower on his face.

“You know, for someone who claims to not care about what I do with my life, you certainly like to share your opinions on it.” She snapped.

Jughead rolled his eyes.

“Maybe I just don’t want to see my right hand man date a dropout. It gives the Serpents a bad rep.”

Kevin raised his eyebrows at Veronica before touching her shoulder with an apologetic grin, leaving her to face Jughead Jones alone.

“Then forbid him to date me, Jughead. If you’re _really_ that concerned about the reputation of a grungy motorcycle gang.”

Jughead didn’t flinch, only glared at her.

“Are you really going to quit school? Because, you know, that would be only giving into defeat.”

Veronica shrugged.

“It doesn’t matter to _me_ , so why should it matter to anyone else?”

Jughead sighed.

“It just doesn’t seem like you. I’ve never known you to give up on anything.”

Veronica tried not to look as surprised as she felt by the sudden gentle tone in Jughead’s voice. A tone that took her back to that steamy, summer night when they had last spoken to each other with no pretenses, and no inhibitions. That last night when they had been something to each other that blurred the line between friendship and more than friendship and had led to a night that still made Veronica shiver when she allowed herself to think about it in quick flashes.

Jughead’s hands on her body, his voice in her ear, his kiss on her wet skin.

She shook her head, more so in an attempt to shake the thoughts from her mind instead of thinking about him in a way she shouldn’t while he was standing right in front of her.

“Some things you have no choice but to give up on.” She said as she looked into his eyes, hoping he knew exactly what she was saying.

The double meaning wasn’t lost on him as he quickly cupped her cheek in his hand.

“But sometimes, Veronica, giving up is a mistake that you want to fix but you don't know how.”

Veronica stepped away from his hand, unable to allow the addictive sensation of Jughead’s touch.

“What the _hell_ is wrong with you?” She hissed as she looked both ways down the hall, praying to God no one had just witnessed the intimate moment between her and the boy who was most definitely _not_ her boyfriend.

Jughead winced, as if he’d completely forgotten where he was, having let a memory cloud his good judgement.

“I don’t fucking know. I guess I just…what about that night, Veronica? Do you think about it as much as I do?”

Veronica stared at him in utter disbelief.

“You’re really going to ask me that _now_? Why would you even bring that up? Is Betty not satisfying you enough or something?” She asked, doing her best to keep her volume in check, but finding it difficult when she was so angry she could practically feel the blood boiling in her veins.

Jughead glared at her, and she felt a comfort in it. It was easier to be around him if he was angry with her.

“Why would you think _that_? Is it because Sweetpea isn’t satisfying _you_?”

Veronica felt her mouth drop open as Jughead smirked.

“Yeah, he told me. He told all of us that you demand some pretty intense shit from him in bed. Things that you _beg_ him to do to you. Things that seem _awfully_ familiar since they are the _same_ exact things that I did to you that night.”

Veronica could feel the heat in her cheeks. She was raging mad knowing that Sweetpea had shared such personal details regarding their sex life, but even more so knowing that Jughead knew exactly what she had wanted, and why.

She was speechless, and mortified.

“Fuck you, Jones.” Was all she could muster as she looked away from him, unable to meet his eyes.

“Yeah…you’d like to. Wouldn’t you?” He asked, a sneer in his tone.

Veronica couldn’t hold back her hand as she raised it and slapped Jughead across the cheek.

Jughead grimaced but then gave her a pleased grin. He had gotten to her again, and he seemed to enjoy it thoroughly.

“Two slaps in one week. How about you save that rough play for your boy toy, Veronica. Just because _you_ can’t get off doesn’t mean he shouldn’t get to.”

He walked away from her then, and she felt her hands curling into fists, and she made a vow to herself to never talk to Jughead Jones ever again.

 

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

Jughead sat by the tree where he and Betty always had lunch, but she couldn’t make it that afternoon due to a student council meeting, and he was relieved.

He didn’t want her to see how on edge he was. His encounter with Veronica had led to a reaction he hadn’t anticipated.

Because Veronica Lodge brought out something in him that was almost animalistic, and it was for that reason that he stayed away from her as much as he could.

He hadn’t meant to talk to her that morning, but when he’d overheard her conversation with Kevin it was like something had taken over and forced him to give his input on her decision to leave school or not. All he could think was that it would be the biggest mistake she could make and he didn’t know who in her life could be a voice of reason.

Because Betty and Veronica’s friendship was nonexistent, at this point. Veronica and Archie were on good terms but rarely spoke. Sweetpea would probably actually encourage Veronica to drop out, and then follow suit. Kevin was one of her closest friends but still too nice to actually disagree with Veronica on whatever she chose to do.

When it came down to it, Veronica didn’t have many people in her life the way she'd once had. Her relationship with her parents was beyond strained, some of her closest friends had kept their distance from her after everything Hiram had done. She worked all the time, went to school, was sporadic with her Rivervixen duties, and tried to maintain some semblance of a relationship with a guy who was only moderately invested in her.

Jughead touched his cheek, thinking about the way Veronica had slapped him. It has been forceful but not nearly as painful as he knew it could have been. Almost as if she had been holding back. And he found himself wondering why.

He’d deserved to be hit, and hard. But the memory of that summer night crept into his mind, just as it had when he’d been talking to Veronica. And she must have been thinking of it too.

That night had been hassling him ever since it had happened. He never understood why he’d never heard from Veronica afterwards, even after the letter he had left for her. He had folded it up and stuck it in the crack of her trailer door, knowing she would get it after her shift at Pop’s. He had confessed things to her, had asked her something important, but he’d never gotten a response.

It wasn’t long after that Betty came around again, telling him how much she had missed him all summer long, that maybe she had made a mistake by dumping him for Archie, that she wanted a second chance if he would be willing to give her one.

So he had. But since then, nothing had been the same. And it felt as though there were a million reasons why.

Betty didn’t know anything about the night he’d spent with Veronica. About the way he had touched her, had kissed her, had made love to her until the sun began to peak through the trees along the banks of the Quarry. Betty didn’t know anything about the look on Veronica’s face every time she came, the way she’d sounded when she’d moaned Jughead’s name, the way she felt when she was on top of him, her body moving in unison with his, like the unbridled roll of a tempestuous ocean wave.

And Betty didn’t know anything about how Veronica had owned him. Heart, soul, body, and mind.

Jughead was abruptly brought out of his deep thoughts when Toni approached him, a look of confusion on her face.

“I got your text. What’s this favor you need me to do?”

\---

 

“I mean, I get why you want to quit school but have you thought about what you’d do if Pop’s or La Bonne Nuit doesn’t make it? How would you make a living as a high school drop out?”

Veronica tried to stifle her smile as Toni did her very best to convince Veronica that quitting school would be a terrible mistake if she actually went through with it.

The one woman intervention reeked of Jughead Jones, and as much as she wanted to hate him for how much of a jerk he’d been lately, it was hard to when he seemed to actually give a shit about her life choices. It was the first time in a long time that he seemed to care about her.

“Look, T, I appreciate the real talk, but I haven’t made any definite decisions yet about my future. But when or if I do decide to quit school, you can tell Jughead that it’s none of his damn business.”

Toni’s face reddened at how transparent she had been.

“He just…he was concerned…”

Veronica smiled as she patted her friend’s hand.

“Free shots all night and a designated driver to take you home for your troubles, my dear friend.” Veronica said as she signaled to the speakeasy bartender to hook Toni up for the rest of her time at the small club.

Toni frowned.

“Veronica, what’s the deal with you and Jones? You’ve still never told me why you two disappeared that night at the Quarry. Don’t think we didn’t notice that you both were nowhere to be found for the rest of that night. And now he’s asking me to talk to you for him? Level with me, girl.”

Veronica’s heart pumped wildly as she tried to think of some logical explanation to Toni’s questions without giving away the secret of that night. She had never thought that anyone had been aware that she and Jughead had gone off together. In fact, Veronica had attempted to cover her tracks by texting Cheryl to tell her that she’d gone home early so she could get some rest. But she had obviously underestimated her friends.

“Think she’ll believe you?” Jughead had asked with a smirk on his sun-kissed face as he played with the strap of her bikini.

“I don’t care.” She had replied as she touched his cheek and gazed into his sapphire blue eyes.

He had built them a small fire, right there on the sandy bank of the Quarry. They were as far away from everyone else as they could get. They couldn’t even hear the laughs and shouts bouncing against the tiered, chiseled walls of gray stone, which meant the group they’d left behind wouldn’t hear the whimpers and moans of two people making love relentlessly and feverishly, no longer able to contain the desire and need that had been simmering just beneath the surface after weeks of subtle flirtation and drunken admissions during late night conversations.

“You make me crazy.” He had murmured before grazing her earlobe with his teeth, kissing the soft spot just below it before moving down her jawline and to her neck.

She had been so lost in him that had to remember that this was all real, that she could touch him too, just the way he was touching her.

Her hands on his sinewy muscles of his back, hot from the day’s heat, felt foreign to her. He was different, but she wanted different. But he was also Jughead Jones, the most unlikely of men that she could ever imagine herself with. But there was no trying to make sense of it, not when she craved him constantly and had been for weeks. And he hadn’t disappointed. Not even close.

“Veronica? Hello?”

Veronica hadn’t realized that she had been staring down at the mahogany counter of her bar, wiping it in the same place over and over, lost in her memory of a night she knew she should disregard as a weak moment and nothing more. Because it hadn’t seemed to mean anything more to Jughead.

“Uh…sorry. Nothing’s going on, Toni. Jughead is just probably looking out for Sweetpea. You know, making sure his boy doesn’t date a loser drop out.”

Toni smirked as her manicured nails tapped her shot glass.

“Hmm, yeah…I’m sure that’s it.” She said with a raise of her eyebrow, clearly not believing a word Veronica said.

“But seriously. Are you going to drop out of school? We’re almost done, you know. Can’t you just hang in there for the next few months?”

Veronica shrugged.

“I could, I guess. Question is, should I? The school would probably be happy to see me gone. The cloud of dread that surrounds me because of my last name would no longer be hanging around their hallowed halls. Everything could go back to some type of normal without a Lodge around.”

Toni shook her head.

“Pity party much, Ronnie?”

Veronica chuckled.

“I’m not having a pity party, Toni. I’m just trying to begin my transition out of Riverdale a little early. I can’t stay around here, not with my dad always watching me. I swear he has me followed and spied on.”

Toni smiled.

“Or you’re just being really paranoid. Don’t let your dad run you out of Riverdale, Veronica. What would we do without you?”

\---

 

Jughead stared at the crime board on the kitchen wall of his trailer.

He couldn’t figure out where the drugs were coming from, but fresh batches of Jingle Jangle had been popping up all over town. The Sugarman had died almost two years ago, and things had quieted down for a while. The drug situation in Riverdale had considerably diminished and Jughead knew it had a lot to do with all the Ghoulies that the Serpents had managed to run out of town or scare into hiding.

When Jughead had become Serpent King, he’d made a lot of changes and he’d put a massive amount of fear into the opposing gang after he’d survived his brush with death.

The look of fear on the Ghoulies faces whenever they saw Jughead was enough to keep them from causing the kind of drama they once had.

“You were _dead_.” Malachai had said to him during one of their run-in’s, the uneasiness on his face proving that he was far more afraid of the Serpent King than he wanted to be.

“Guess I came back to life, asshole.” Jughead had replied with a shit eating grin on his face.

The whole Jingle Jangle deal had Hiram Lodge’s name etched all over it, that part was obvious. But dealing with Hiram was hardly as effortless as dealing with Malachai, Penny, or the other Ghoulies. Hiram Lodge was next level nefarious.

“You’ve got to do something about this, son. We can’t allow Riverdale to go down a dark path again. I don’t think we could withstand the fallout.” FP said to his son as he stood next to him and stared at the web of red string, attempting to make connections, but they were leading nowhere.

“I know, dad. I’ll figure something out.” Jughead replied with a sigh.

He knew his only option would be to talk to Veronica.

But he hadn’t seen her in weeks. She had kept an unusually low profile ever since she’s slapped him for the second time in a week. He still couldn’t get it out of his mind how she had looked at him. As angry as she was, there was still that tender look in her eyes. The look he’d become so familiar with over the summer when they’d spent time together discreetly hanging out, most times under the cover of darkness. It was as if they had owned those summer nights, as if those nights belonged only to Veronica Lodge and Jughead Jones.

He’d told her things he’d never told anyone before, not even Archie or Betty. But something about telling Veronica some of his darkest thoughts and secrets was comforting. It allowed him to let go of some of the shit he’d been holding onto for way too many years. She had listened to it all with no judgement, no admonishing. She didn’t try to hold him to some moral code or some value system that one had to live by in order to be considered “good.”

“I feel like we can talk about anything.” She’d said to him right before he’d kissed her for the first time.

“Then can we talk about how much I think about you? How much I want to kiss you?”

She had looked at him with wide eyes, obviously surprised by his candidness. He’d been surprised too. But instead of answering him, she had taken her phone and texted Cheryl.

_I’m really tired, so I went home for the night. Talk to you tomorrow._

Jughead had smiled as he read what Veronica had typed.

“Think she’ll believe you?” He’d asked.

Veronica had looked up at him then and put a soft hand to his cheek. It had been the most staggering of feelings. Veronica Lodge was looking at him like she had plans. Plans that would last all night long.

“I don’t care.” She had purred.

He’d kissed her then, and she had kissed him back. Her sweet lips tasted like the crystal clear water they had just been swimming in, but with a hint of cinnamon like the dark plum lipstick she wore.

Kissing Veronica hadn’t been like kissing any other girl whose lips had been on his before. She kissed with her whole body, melding herself into him, solidifying her place within his soul where she planned to stay forever and longer.

She opened her mouth to him easily, ready for his tongue to engage with her own. She sighed between the slick, playful kisses and quiet whispers.

“You make me crazy.”

He hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but he had no way to stop every thought from tumbling out of his mouth. She _did_ make him crazy. Crazy with lust, desire, and a carnal hunger that only she could sate.

She made him feel invincible and strong, brave and worthy. She made him smile in a way he wasn’t sure he’d smiled since he’d been a little kid, riding his bike with an ice cream in hand, not a care in the world.

He’d put his all into the way he’d made love to her that night. If he thought about something he wanted to do to her, he did it. She’d cry out, he’d do it again. He had taken her over the edge so many times, he could feel his body begging to rest, but rest wasn’t an option, not when her moans invigorated him to keep going.

Finally, the sun burst over the east side of the rock wall. He had taken her hand and they’d waded into the water, still naked, shaky, sweaty, but ready to take one last swim before putting their bathing suits back on and heading home with memories of a night that could not be matched until it happened again.

But a night like that one didn’t happen again.

“You know what you have to do, Jug.” FP said as he watched his son curiously after he had suddenly grown incredibly quiet.

Jughead sighed

“Yeah, I know. I’ll talk to Veronica tomorrow. I’ll see if she can help.”

 

 

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

Veronica sat in the quiet of La Bonne Nuit on a Saturday afternoon going over receipts and invoices. Thank God she was good at math because she knew she’d be lost as she crunched numbers and planned out the budget for the next month. She'd thought about hiring someone to do it for her, but she feared that her father would find some way to get involved and she just couldn't risk it.

The speakeasy was doing well, better than she had ever expected, which made quitting school even more tempting.

“If I can do this well while still going to school full time, imagine how successful this place could be if I was able to put _all_ of my time into La Bonne Nuit.” Veronica had said to Sweetpea a few nights earlier when the club had been in so much demand, but was at full capacity to the point that the security team had been forced to turn dozens of people away.

“I love dating a mogul.” Sweetpea had replied, a drunken smile on his face.

Veronica had rolled her eyes. Sweetpea seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself and his unlimited free drinks due to the fact that the proprietor of the speakeasy was his own girlfriend. Attempting to talk to him while he was in his inebriated state was pointless.

It was in those moments that she missed having a friend that she could talk to who would _really_ listen. It was when she missed her unpredictable friendship with Jughead the most. Even though he wouldn’t always completely agree with her, he’d be honest with her. She longed for that type of candor. She longed for him.

But, as always, she shamed herself for even thinking of him in such a sentimental way. She’d avoided him for weeks, which hadn’t been too difficult considering most of the time she’d been avoiding him had been during the Christmas break. But keeping clear of Jughead hadn’t made her feel any better about anything. And the thought of quitting school, and not having to actively go above and beyond just so she wouldn’t have to see him, became even more appealing.

“Hey.”

Veronica looked up to see Jughead standing on the stairway, watching her timidly, as if he was afraid she’d pounce if he got too close.

Obviously her time spent evading Jughead Jones had reached its expiration.

“We’re _closed_.” She said through gritted teeth.

“Pop let me in.”

Veronica sighed.

“Then Pop and I are going to have to have a talk about everyone who is blacklisted from entering my élite establishment. You’d be the only one on that list, by the way.”

Jughead chuckled.

“I’m flattered.”

Veronica took off her glasses as Jughead moved slowly towards her, his Serpent jacket on and his motorcycle helmet in hand. He was here on business, but he still made her heart pound.

“So what favor do you need from me? I’m assuming that’s why you’re here.”

Jughead nodded, sheepishly. She could tell that it wasn’t so much that he loathed asking her for help with something, it was that he was embarrassed to even be bothering her at all. As if he knew she could do without his presence.

“It’s your dad, Veronica. The Jingle Jangle he’s been producing and selling, it was bad before but it’s getting worse. Every time we get close to intercepting him, he stays one step ahead. If we let this shit continue, Riverdale will be heading towards another downward spiral.”

Veronica sighed heavily. This was exactly what had always been playing at the corners of her mind for the past two years. Her father making another go at ruining the town she and the Serpents and her mayor mother had worked so hard to rebuild. She hadn’t been naïve about Hiram and what he might be up to. Veronica knew her father wouldn’t be able to keep his criminal activities underground for too long, that he had been planning something.

So the Jingle Jangle game had been amped up, and now she was going to have to find a way to overcome her father once again.

Veronica tapped her pencil on the bar, racking her brain to think of places where Jughead hadn’t yet looked.

“Shadow Lake. Have you tried there yet?” She asked as she looked up at Jughead, who was watching her with a pensive frown.

He shook his head no.

“There’s a cabin there. It’s been on a plot of land that my father owns for as long as I can remember. I wouldn’t doubt that the base of his operation is being done in _that_ cabin.”

Jughead nodded as he wrote down the directions.

“Thank you, Veronica.” He said quietly as his gazed raked over her from head to toe, making her shiver from the way his eyes drank her in.

“No problem.” She said before swallowing hard and looking back down at her work in front of her.

But he didn’t leave, and she could still feel his eyes on her.

“If it’s worth anything to you, I’m sorry for the way I acted a few weeks ago. I should have apologized to you sooner, but I haven’t seen you around.”

Veronica shrugged.

“Well, I had sworn that I would never speak to you again after that, but…never mind…it’s nothing, Jughead. Don’t worry about it.” She replied flatly, still refusing to meet his gaze.

He didn’t say anything for a while, and Veronica found herself reading the same line on the napkin invoice over and over again. “12 packs of 500 3ply diagonal imprint cocktail for $240.17 total” would be etched into her mind forever.

“Veronica.”

Veronica finally looked up when she heard the tightness in his voice. She knew immediately that he wanted to say something to her, but he was struggling. And trying to ignore him wasn’t making it any easier for him. Why did she have to know him so well?

“Just…can you just answer one thing for me?” He asked, the somber tone in his voice went straight to her heart. He had disarmed her, and she hated him for making it nearly impossible to hate him for it.

“What is it, Jug?”

He stepped closer to her, and lay his helmet down on a stool before gripping the rounded edge of the mahogany bar, leaning into it as his eyes pierced into hers.

“Tell me _why_ …why you never responded to my letter after that night. I just…I need to know, Veronica. For my own sanity. I can’t move on until I know why you ignored everything I said to you in that letter.”

Veronica stared at him as if he was speaking a language she didn’t understand.

“Letter? What _letter_?”

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. Jughead had sent her a letter? A letter she’d never received. Panic and pain coursed through her body as Jughead’s mouth dropped open.

“You mean…you never got it? I stuck it in your trailer door the very next day!”

Veronica shook her head.

“I never got it, Jughead, I swear.” She said adamantly, her hands shaking at what she now realized might have been a missed opportunity that she didn’t even know she had missed until now.

“Fuck...” He exhaled as he ran a hand through his beanie-less hair and picked his helmet back up as if he was about to make a quick exit.

Veronica bit her bottom lip, desperate to keep a scream of frustration from bursting from her throat.

“What did you say in the letter, Jughead?” She asked as she got up from her seat and walked over to stand in front of him, preventing him from leaving just yet.

Jughead looked down at the dark, purple carpet beneath his scuffed boots.

“I…I can’t tell you that now. It won’t do us any good.”

Veronica scoffed.

“Then why the _hell_ did you bring it up? If you’d thought all this time that I had read it, what were you expecting me to say to you today?”

Jughead leaned his back against the bar, grimacing as he looked at her, his blue eyes full of torment.

“I wanted you to tell me something that would end this torture. To explain why you said nothing at all. I poured my _heart_ out to you in that letter, Veronica. I told you how I felt about that night, how I felt about _you_. But it’s all for nothing now. Maybe you were never meant to read it. Maybe the way our lives are now are how they’re supposed to be.”

Veronica could feel her chest tighten. She felt as though she could barely breathe.

“What did you say to me in the letter, Jughead? Did you…did you want to _be_ with me?”

Jughead looked up at the ceiling and shook his head.

“Don’t you get it, Veronica?”

He looked at her then, seemingly amused at the tragedy of the situation.

“It doesn’t matter now. I guess…it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Veronica scowled at him.

“When did you start believing in fate?” She spat, angry at the way he was refusing to divulge anything he had said to her in the letter she never been allowed to read.

Jughead said nothing as he walked around her and towards the staircase that led back up to Pop’s.

“So you’re just going to walk away without ever knowing how I might have responded to your letter? I thought you wanted _closure_.”

Jughead stopped and turned his head to the side.

“Closure is overrated.”

\---

 

Jughead kicked the back wheel of his motorcycle until the whole bike toppled over onto its side with a loud, metallic thud. But he wasn’t done yet as he used all of his might to throw his helmet across the parking lot of the Whyte Wyrm where it bounced and rolled until it landed in a puddle of melted snow.

But the destruction barely did anything to make him feel better.

“You okay, Jones?”

The familiar voice of Sweetpea was the very last thing Jughead needed to hear at that moment. His body teemed with rage.

“Do I fucking _look_ okay?” He shouted angrily as he threw up his arms and tossed back his head, and gawked at the clear night sky above him, full of twinkling stars.

Every single one of them reminded him of his night spent under those same stars with Veronica on top of him, underneath him, and curled up in his arms.

“No, you look insane. But more so than usual.” Sweetpea replied, seemingly unfazed by Jughead’s outburst.

Jughead looked over at Sweetpea, more than ready to go off on his friend over all the reasons why he was completely wrong for Veronica, how he didn’t deserve her, that as the Serpent prince he demanded that Sweetpea breakup with the Northside beauty.

But his whole speech was derailed when he saw Sweetpea dressed to the nines in a suit and tie, his hair slicked back, and a pair of silver V-shaped cufflinks poking out underneath his suit jacket.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Jughead asked with an accusatory tone as he twisted up his face in disgust at seeing his right hand man looking so different it was almost alien-like.

Sweetpea cleared his throat as he nervously straightened his tie.

“It’s New Year’s Eve, Jones. Veronica is throwing a party at her club. I’d invite you but, it’s _strictly_ invitation only.”

The self-righteous look on Sweetpea’s face made Jughead want nothing more than to beat the living shit out him, and tell him exactly what he could do with his invitation only party.

For months now, Jughead had let himself feel nothing but numbness when he would see Veronica with Sweetpea. He’d tell himself that they were better suited for each other, a good match. He had let denial be a blinder after figuring Veronica hadn’t given a shit about his letter. That she’d moved on to something bigger and better than himself. He told himself it was better this way. That she belonged to Sweetpea and Jughead belonged to Betty.

But now he knew the truth.

Veronica swore to him that she’d never found the letter that he’d left for her, and he believed her. But he knew how carefully he’d left it in the crack of her door, where the weather seal had rotted away and left a sliver just big enough for a folded piece of paper to fit snugly.

The whole drive back to the Wyrm he found himself wondering if someone could have found it, read it, and taken it. Someone who didn’t want anything to happen between him and the girl who never should belong to him, but who he had a hopeless and undeniable ache for.

Who it could have been, he wasn’t sure. There were a lot of people who wouldn’t want Veronica to know how he felt about her. The person who came to the forefront of his mind was Veronica’s own father. A man who was so ruthless that he would rather destroy his daughter’s happiness for his own selfish reasons than allow her to make her _own_ decisions about who she wanted to love.

It made Jughead hate the man even more than he already did.

“Do you really think I would actually go to something as obnoxiously pretentious as a New Year’s Eve party in some rat hole that thinks it’s an elitist’s wet dream. _Fuck_ no.”

Sweetpea scowled, but it only fueled Jughead’s wrath even more.

“And you look _ridiculous_ thinking that you can sneak your way into her world with a tie and some hair gel. You’ll never belong, Sweetpea. She’ll throw you over as soon as something better shows up. You think you have her wrapped around _your_ little finger? Think again. She’s a master manipulator, and you’ve just become another one of her totally oblivious suckers.”

Out of nowhere, Jughead felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“That’s enough, Jug. Don’t you have a date with Betty you should be getting to?”

The calming voice of Toni Topaz suddenly neutralized him.

He turned to see her with a full face of perfectly applied makeup and wearing a glittery red dress as Cheryl stood close by. He guessed they were going to the party too, and he felt a heaviness in his heart knowing that they were all going to support Veronica because they cared about her. And all he could do was resent them all for it instead of supporting her as well.

“So you’re going to have to be the one to tell me what’s been going on with you and Veronica. She won’t tell me anything, but I know you two have been hiding something. Let me help.”

But Jughead shook his head as he watched Sweetpea get on his motorcycle and rev the engine. Even after all Jughead had said to him, he was still going to the party. He was still going to be with Veronica, and the envy he felt for his fellow Serpent was agonizing.

Jughead chuckled softly, but finding absolutely no humor in the situation.

“I wish you could, Toni. But I think it’s far too broken to be fixed.”

 

To be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

Veronica could feel the edginess radiating from Sweetpea. He wasn’t being his usual jovial, laid-back self.

“What’s up with you?” She finally asked him after she’d had enough drinks to loosen her up.

After her conversation with Jughead earlier that day, all she’d wanted to do was get drunk and forget about some mysterious letter that she’d never seen and had never known existed.

Maybe Jughead was right. It just wasn’t meant to be.

So she decided to focus on her very quiet date. She didn’t usually have to ask Sweetpea anything, he had always been the forthcoming type, always willing to talk about his triumphs, an entirely open book. It was extremely rare for Sweetpea to ever be visibly upset about something.

He sighed as he placed a hand on Veronica’s lower back and guided her away from the other party-goers.

“It’s just…it’s something Jones said to me tonight before I got here.”

Veronica immediately felt her face get hot. Had Jughead told Sweetpea about last summer? Her mind began to churn with some way of explaining what had happened. That it had just been one time. That it had clearly been a mistake.

“He...he told me that I would never fit in with you. And…I find myself wondering if he might be right. I’ve _never_ dressed like this a day in my life before I met you. I don’t want to change, Veronica. But I don’t want to look like a fool around…all of this…either.” He said as he looked around the club, his hand motioning toward all the fancily dressed party guests.

Veronica’s panic quickly switched to rage. Now Jughead was beginning to meddle in her romantic life and there was no _way_ she would tolerate him messing up what she had been trying so hard to make work.

Her relationship with Sweetpea had its issues, the main one being a lack of a deeper connection, which Veronica had been more than patient about. She was willing to put in the time it would take to have the kind of relationship she had been holding out hope for. A relationship that would make her forget about the one person she should have never let get so close to her heart.

“Baby, you don’t _have_ to change. I like you _just_ the way you are. I mean…yeah…I want us to get closer, but I know that will take time. Just please have some faith in me. Give this thing between us a real chance. Tonight was just for fun, I’m not trying to turn you into some kind of ideal guy. You’re great just the way you are.” She said sincerely as she reached up to cup his face in her hands.

Sweetpea smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. She would have to do some major damage control once they were back at her place.

“Maybe I’ll feel better when we’re alone at midnight.” He said smoothly as he took her arms and gently wrapped them around his neck.

“My thoughts exactly.” She uttered softly before bringing his face down to meet hers for a lip-lock with as much passion behind it as she could muster.

But just beneath the seductive exterior was a woman angry as hell. She wanted to hold onto it, because being angry at Jughead Jones was so much easier than feeling all the things that were wanting to be stirred up again.

\---

 

“Happy New Year!” Rang out voices all over the dimly lit living room of the Cooper home.

The small house party that Betty had thrown for her family, the Andrew’s, and a smattering of other friends had been nice, but Jughead hadn’t been in a party mood.

“Happy New Year, Betts.” He said quietly as he kissed Betty’s blonde hair as she sat curled up into him, sleeping soundly, unaware of the party still going on around her.

He looked up to see Archie watching him and Betty as they sat on the couch together. Immediately, Jughead felt the need to protect what was his from the one guy who had always seemed to get everything he ever wanted. Archie’s charmed life had always had a way of chaffing Jughead just enough to resent his best friend every so often over the years.

But after Archie and Betty had decided to give their undeniable pull towards each other a shot over the summer, Jughead finally realized that resenting Archie Andrews came a lot easier, and a lot more often, to him than he’d ever thought possible.

Things had never gone back to normal between the two childhood friends, but it wasn’t from a lack of trying. There’d been apologies, and handshakes, and an equal understanding; but none of it had been enough to repair what the friendship had once between Jughead and Archie.

Jughead missed his best friend, but he’d had no choice but to put his pride first for once.

So in a show of machismo, Jughead pulled Betty closer to him before resting his head on hers while Archie looked on with a forlorn expression, knowing he hadn't only lost Betty, but he'd lost his best friend too.

Jughead felt the stirring of Betty in his arms as she sighed deeply.

“Are you going to stay the night?” She mumbled, her eyes still closed as she kept her arm wrapped around his waist.

Jughead sighed. He hadn’t planned on it, and he knew Alice didn’t completely love the idea of Jughead’s sleepovers, but he felt the need to stick around, even when he saw Archie exit the Cooper house through the backdoor.

“Yeah, of course, babe.” He replied as he squeezed her shoulder.

“You’ve been distracted, Juggy. Wanna talk about it?”

But before Jughead could even answer her, Betty’s breathing had grown heavy again. She was sound asleep.

Jughead pulled out his phone to text FP and let him know he wouldn’t be home, but he quickly noticed a text from Toni that he hadn’t seen earlier.

_Whatever you were trying to do tonight to make Sweetpea feel insecure, it didn’t work._

Jughead stared at the photo attached to the message. It was of Veronica and Sweetpea kissing heatedly in a corner of the speakeasy. He gnashed his teeth together. This was exactly the sort of thing he worked so hard to avoid seeing. Veronica with Sweetpea and looking so into him. Looking at the burly Serpent in a way that he’d seen her look at so many other guys. And the way she’d looked at him too.

_Point for Veronica. Your move, Jones._

Said the text that followed.

Jughead scoffed, but remembered that he wasn’t alone as Betty stirred in his arms from the angry noise.

_I’m not playing a game, Toni. But stay out of it regardless._

He shot back before sticking his phone back in his jacket pocket and staring straight ahead at the New Year’s Eve broadcast glowing from the living room television.

But the picture of Sweetpea and Veronica was now burned into his thoughts and he found himself wondering what she could have said to make Sweetpea want to stick around to kiss her when the clock struck midnight.

Jughead quietly cursed her for having such a pull, such a powerful siren song that kept so many men right in the palm of her hand. Jughead wasn’t sure of exactly what he had been trying to accomplish earlier that night when he’d insulted the hell out of his friend and cohort. He supposed he’d wanted to create a fissure of insecurity in Sweetpea’s relationship with Veronica.

But why did he want to do that? He didn’t want to be with her. He was with Betty, after all.

He needed a distraction.

Jughead eased himself out of Betty’s embrace, and covered her with a blanket before making a quiet exit from the house.

He found himself driving his motorcycle up to Shadow Lake, recalling in his memory the map to the stretch of land where Hiram’s secret cabin was somewhere tucked away among the pines. He knew if Veronica was right about the cabin being the base of the Jingle Jangle operation, he would owe her one on top of what he owed her after what he’d done earlier that night.

Jughead could only imagine how spitting mad Veronica must be at him for interfering in her relationship with Sweetpea, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself. His stomach churned every single time he thought about his letter being out there somewhere, possibly in the possession of someone who it didn’t belong to.

He thought about everything he had said, the way he’d lain his heart bare for her completely. The anger he had felt towards her for ignoring it, for making him feel like the biggest fool alive, was melting away, because she had never even known the letter had existed.

Granted, Jughead had no idea how she would have responded to it if she actually had received it. For all he knew, she still would have ignored it, or told him it didn’t mean anything to her. Maybe she would have laughed, or told him he was being too dramatic, too emotional.

But what killed him more than anything was that he had told Veronica how he felt about her, that he thought he was falling in love with her, and it wasn’t just the incredible sex that had led him to that conclusion. The sex had only solidified what he knew he was feeling towards her all summer.

And now she would never know how he’d felt, because he wasn’t going to tell her. Things were too different now. He was with Betty, she was with Sweetpea. They had moved on.

Jughead pulled his bike over to the side of the road after he passed the gravel driveway that led up to the Lodge lake house. He didn’t want anyone to hear his approach, so he would have to go the rest of the way on foot.

He trudged through snow that had been lying on the ground for so long that it crunched like ice beneath his feet. The noise wasn’t making his approach as stealthy as he’d anticipated. Fortunately, according to the map that he’d dug out of his back pocket, he was close.

Jughead dropped to his knees in the snow and took out his night vision binoculars that he’d saved up for months to buy just for missions like this one. He pointed them towards the general area of where the cabin should be.

“Bingo.” His whispered to himself when his eyes landed on a shadowy shape in the form of a small house.

No lights were on, but Jughead could smell smoke coming from a fireplace. He focused in as much as he could and noticed several, small red lights dotted along the roofline of the cabin. They were cameras.

Jughead also noticed a few nearby vehicles in the shape of all-terrain Jeeps and two figures that looked to be guards set on two different perimeters of the house. He knew there were likely more than the two guards, but Jughead couldn’t see them.

“Damn it.” He muttered, realizing quickly that Hiram must have somehow known his little hideout would be found and canvassed.

The question was, how had he known?

Jughead a feeling he knew exactly how. And it would require another trip to La Bonne Nuit, and soon.

\---

 

“You have a lot of fucking nerve to show up here.” Veronica hissed as she opened her trailer door to find Jughead on the other side.

It was ridiculously early in the morning, and she was in no mood to deal with Jughead when a sleeping Sweetpea was nearby.

“Happy New Year, Veronica. Should auld acquaintance be forgot?” Jughead asked with a crooked grin as he handed her a to-go cup of coffee.

Veronica scoffed.

“You don’t even know what that means.” She replied grumpily as she took the coffee from him.

“No one knows what it means. But I came by here to tell you I’m sorry. I know you’re pissed at me for what I said to Sweetpea last night. I was…I was just in a bad place after our conversation yesterday. But I shouldn’t have interfered in whatever it is between you and Sweetpea.”

Veronica eyed him skeptically.

“Hmm, not sure I completely believe you, but I’ll take the coffee regardless. Thanks, Jughead, you can leave now. I’m sure the walking ponytail that you call a girlfriend is expecting you.”

She started to close the door but Jughead quickly grasped it and pushed it back just enough so he could squeeze inside.

“I didn’t invite you in.” She said, annoyed at the way he had intruded.

Jughead hadn’t been inside her trailer in a long time. And she remembered the last time far too well.

It had been one of those nights where he’d come by because he couldn’t sleep.

“My mom wanted to come home this summer. I guess she and Jellybean had talked about wanting to get our family back together. Dad was so excited. It was the second chance he’d been waiting for, you know?”

He had sighed heavily as he rubbed his face in his hands.

“But then…today…she called and said she’d changed her mind. She didn’t even give us a real reason _why_. And…I’m so _mad_ at her, Veronica…I’m so mad that I can barely see straight.”

Veronica had nodded, completely understanding the level of anger you could feel towards your parent when they make promises that they don’t intend to keep.

“I think your mother is having a hard time facing the things she ran away from. Whether it was warranted at the time or not, she didn’t think about what things would be like when she decided she needed to come back. She’s afraid, and the cost of her fear is _huge_ …because she’s missing out.”

Jughead had looked at her then, almost like he didn’t think he had heard her right.

“Missing out on what?” He’d asked, curious about what she meant exactly.

Veronica had taken a deep breath.

“She’s missing out on knowing how wonderful her son is.”

Veronica’s heart was pounding frantically as she watched the anger on Jughead’s handsome face fade into a warm smile.

“Are you fucking with me, Lodge?”

Veronica had chuckled, shaking her head no.

“Not at all, Jones. You _are_ wonderful. And you’re brave, and smart. It’s a shame that she hasn’t been around to see the man you’ve become.”

The blush in Jughead’s cheeks had been unmistakable. And when he took her hand in his, and looked into her eyes so intensely, she was sure he would have kissed her right then, if it hadn’t been for his cell phone suddenly ringing.

“It’s my dad. I better go.” He said quietly as he got up from her couch and headed towards the front door.

He had thanked her and left, and her hands sudden began to shake. She had never been so honest, so forthcoming with anyone before, not even Archie or Betty. But with Jughead, it was so easy. Too easy. Scarily easy.

Veronica sighed as she allowed the door to close behind Jughead, and she wondered if he remembered that night as well as she did. If he even remembered that night at all. It had been only a few days before they had slept together. Days before he had apparently left her a letter that could have changed the course of everything between them.

“I know you’d like me to leave before your man candy wakes up, but we have some business to discuss regarding the intel you gave me yesterday regarding your father.”

Veronica sighed. This couldn’t be good news if Jughead was making a house call.

She invited Jughead to take a seat before he explained what he had come across the night before.

“So what should we do now?” Veronica asked, not sure how she could be of any help going further.

Jughead stood up.

“You come with me to La Bonne Nuit and we find all the bugs you’re father has placed throughout the club. That’s how he knew to be ready for me. He _knew_ about our conversation. We need to get those bugs out of there and as soon as possible if we have any chance of ending his drug game.”

Veronica’s heart fell to the pit of her stomach. No wonder Hiram had seemed to always be one step ahead all the time. He’d been listening, and maybe even watching, everything Veronica had discussed with anyone who’d been at the speakeasy. Including all the conversation with Sweetpea over the drug den raids.

“Give me ten minutes.” She said as she headed for her bedroom.

She no longer had time to be mad at Jughead over petty shit. She had a bigger fish to fry.

\---

 

Jughead followed behind Veronica as she approached the back entrance to La Bonne Nuit with a purpose.

She had left behind a note for Sweetpea after explaining to Jughead that waking him up and bringing him along wasn’t necessary.

“He’ll be so hungover that it would be useless to try to have him help.” She had explained.

Jughead hadn’t argued. He wasn’t quite ready to face his friend after what he’d said to him the night before. He would rather eat crow later.

“Remember, do _not_ utter a word. We don’t even want him to know we’re here. That way, he won’t know we found them, he’ll just think something happened to the transmission.”  He said quietly before Veronica nodded and quickly unlocked the back door and keyed in the alarm code.

The two walked quietly into the dimly lit space, and surveyed the room.

Jughead motioned for her to start checking under tables while he checked around the bar and bathrooms.

It wasn’t long before Veronica came walking up to him excitedly, holding out her hand to reveal a small, black rectangle with a tiny antennae attached to it.

Jughead gave her a thumbs up as he took a glass of water and placed the bug into it. Completely submerging the tiny piece of tech. He reached out for her arm and pulled her towards him, wanting to speak to her but not loud enough to be picked up by any remaining bugs.

“Good job, Princess. Now let’s find the rest.” He whispered in her ear.

But instead of pulling away, he found himself lingering, completely transfixed by her familiar scent. Her pricey perfume and salon bought shampoo. It was a heady combination that instantaneously took him back to all of the nights he’d spent so close to her, and the night he’d made love to her.

Without even thinking about it, he had snaked an arm around her waist, breathing her in. Veronica pulled back to look at him, her eyes wide with confusion.

“Jug…what are you doing?”

Jughead closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers, his arms still locked around her, keeping her a willing prisoner.

“I don’t know, Veronica…I just need to hold you again…even if it’s just for a few more seconds…” He murmured.

But holding her turned into lips brushing softly against each other’s, not quite giving in completely to the kiss they both so badly wanted, but giving into something that had been locked up tight over the past four months.

“We shouldn’t…” She said as she bit her bottom lip and gazed into his eyes.

She was saying one thing, but her body was doing another as she pressed her breasts up against his chest so seductively that his cock was hard with desire for her.

“…But why do we want to anyway?” He finished for her as he backed her up against the bar, placing his hands on either side of her and gripping the bar as if he would somehow be swept away if he didn’t hold on to something.

“But we hate each other.” She said softly as she kept her eyes locked on his.

Jughead smirked.

“Do we though?” He asked as he leaned into her and nuzzled her neck, letting his teeth drag against the soft skin, causing Veronica’s breath to hitch as she grabbed the collar of his Serpent jacket.

She didn’t get a chance to answer because just then the phone behind her bar began to ring.

“Ignore it.” Jughead mouthed as he stepped away from her abruptly and went back to looking for bugs.

He knew the disappointed look on Veronica’s face would haunt him. She had wanted something to happen between them just as much as he had. But they both knew that it would both lead to disaster, and that was the last thing he wanted Veronica to go through.

She had gone through too much already.

 

To be continued...

 


	6. Chapter 6

It had taken hours for Veronica and Jughead to cover every square inch of the speakeasy during the attempt to rid the place of the small listening devices that her father had found a way to plant so sneakily.

By the time they were finished, she and Jughead had found six of them, plus a hidden camera in the portrait of Veronica that Hiram had given to his daughter as some sort of sick peace offering.

Jughead had proceeded to dunk them all in glasses of water, then he took them out and bagged them all up before silently motioning for Veronica to follow him back up to Pop’s.

“We’ll need to test things out to make sure the bugs are all gone by coming it up with some pretend plan and seeing if your father does something to thwart it.” Jughead said as he and Veronica sat at one of the tables, speaking quietly over cups of coffee and some toast.

It wasn’t the New Year’s breakfast she had originally anticipated, but she couldn’t help but like being with Jughead this way. It felt so familiar to sit with him like this, even though everything had changed so much since the summer.

“I have an idea, then.” Veronica began, deviously.

Jughead leaned in, and her pulse began to race, just as it had done earlier when they’d been so close to each other, so close to giving in. She had wanted him to kiss her, but he hadn’t. She understood why, and he was right not to, but it hadn’t made the whole situation any less disappointing.

“We’ll go back down to the club and talk about using that abandoned boathouse on Sweetwater River as a place to have a meeting with some Ghoulies that have gone rogue. Knowing Hiram, he won’t allow traitors to work amongst his minions. So if my father, Penny, Malachai, or any of the Ghoulies actually show up to confront the turncoats, then we’ll know he heard the plan and that there are still bugs somewhere in the speakeasy. If no one shows up but us, then we’ll know we got them all.”

Jughead nodded enthusiastically.

“Great plan. It should definitely work. When do you want to set the meeting for?” Jughead asked her before taking a sip of his coffee.

Veronica thought for a minute.

“How about this coming Sunday night? That’s our slowest night at La Bonne Nuit, so I always close up early.”

Jughead sat back in his seat and smirked.

“Our town isn’t much for Sunday night sinning.” He teased.

Veronica chuckled.

“Very true. Not so great for business, of course, but it’s nice for me. Closing early means I’m not up until two in the morning. And a girl needs her beauty rest.”

Jughead crossed his arms over his chest.

“You must rest _really_ well, Princess.”

Veronica rolled her eyes.

“Don’t flirt with me, Jug.”

He shrugged.

“Why not? It’s not hurting anyone. It’s just words…and looks…and maybe the occasional hug. Very _close_ hug.”

Veronica shifted in her seat nervously, her heart pounding, Jughead’s stare was full of the intensity she remembered. It was nice to be on the receiving end of that look again after months of the miserable scowls and glares.

“Since when did you stop hating me so much?” She asked, smiling but still unable to meet his gaze.

Jughead chuckled.

“You and I both know that I never _hated_ you, Veronica. I’m just a stubborn asshole who put up my wall when I thought you had completely ignored and rejected my letter. But now that I know you never even saw it…well…it changes things. I mean, I still wonder why you never said anything to me about that night, but I can look past that.” He said as he sipped his coffee without taking his eyes off of her.

Veronica shook her head as she looked up at him.

“I never said anything because you got back together with Betty within days of…of what happened between us. I thought I’d just been a weak moment for you. That I was some kind of Betty placeholder. I didn’t think I mattered to you…so I hated you for it.”

The smile on Jughead’s face faded as he put down his coffee cup.

“Veronica, I only went back to her because I thought you wanted nothing to do with me. My ego was in pieces.”

Veronica sighed.

“And Betty helped put those pieces back together? I get it, Jughead. I just…I wish I knew what happened to the letter. I keep wondering if…if maybe someone took it.”

It felt so strange, but so incredible, to be talking so honestly with Jughead this way again, but there was a pain behind it knowing everything could have been different all this time.

“I think I know who could have taken it, Veronica. Your father. You know he would have never wanted us to be together.” Jughead replied, gritting his teeth at the thought of Hiram interfering in their lives in such a detrimental way.

“Is that what you told me in the letter, Jughead? That you wanted to be with me? Just tell me, please. It’s driving me crazy not knowing what you said.”

Jughead took a deep breath before nodding yes.

“Veronica…I asked you if you’d want to give us a _real_ try…if you’d want to be with me…and that I was also—“

But Jughead was cut off when his cell phone rang.

“ _Fuck_ …it’s Betty.”

\---

 

Jughead lay on Betty’s bed as she rifled through her closet.

“Did you know that in Filipino tradition, they wear polka dots on New Year’s?” Betty asked Jughead as she finally pulled a polka-dotted sweater off of its hanger and presented it to him.

Jughead nodded.

“Yes, but you’re not Filipino, and I believe that tradition is for New Year’s Eve, not New Year’s Day.”

Betty frowned.

“Why are you in such a mood today? First you don’t stay the night last night and then I don’t hear from you all day. What’s going on, Juggy? Did your mom call or something?”

Jughead shook his head.

“Nope. Haven’t heard from the bitch in months. I’m just tired, Betts. Investigating this Jingle Jangle situation has been stressful as fuck. I can’t get ahead of it.”

Betty nodded as if she understood.

“You know who you could get to help you? Veronica. You know Hiram is behind all of this. Veronica could give you some insight.”

Jughead suppressed his smile by laying his arm across his face.

“Look, I know she’s the _last_ person you want to have to deal with, but she really could be helpful, Jug.”

Jughead turned onto his side, quietly laughing.

“Yeah, maybe.” He managed to reply.

Jughead looked out Betty’s window and into Archie’s dark bedroom. His mind instantly went back to the night he had first commiserated with Veronica over their two broken hearts.

Jughead had been sitting alone at Pop’s. It had been late at night, and suddenly Veronica had appeared.

“Pop called me. Said you’d been sitting here for hours staring at a cold cup of coffee and brooding more than usual. Needless to say, he was worried.”

Jughead had let out a sarcastic laugh.

“So he called _you_? The girl who couldn’t keep Archie happy enough so he decided to go and steal _my_ girl instead?”

He winced at the memory. What he had said to her had been hitting below the belt but she’d handled it with grace, realizing that it was just the heartbreak talking.

“Free burgers for eternity then? Obviously I owe you big for my lack of accomplished girlfriend skills.”

Jughead had genuinely laughed. It had been the first time he’d smiled in over two weeks.

“Free burgers for life is definitely a good start.” He’d told her as Veronica signaled for Pop to bring them two.

They had sat together eating, not saying much, but not needing to. Knowing that Veronica was going through exactly what he was going through was strangely comforting, and it had saved him from spiraling after spending way too many evenings not remembering how he’d gotten home.

“You ready to go? Cheryl will be calling me any second wondering where we are.” Betty chirped, interrupting his musings.

Jughead sighed as he dragged himself off of Betty’s bed, wanting nothing more than to go home and think about what he was going to do now that he had almost told Veronica that he had been in the midst of falling in love with her when things had so abruptly ended between them.

After weeks and weeks of hanging out with Veronica over the summer, and wanting to get up the courage to make a move on her, he finally did. And it had been incredible, the best sex he’d ever had. And he knew right then what he wanted, he thought he had it, but then he didn’t. So he went back to Betty, thinking being back with his ex would somehow salve the ache of not having Veronica.

But the only thing it had accomplished was revenge on Archie. But “beating” Archie for Betty’s heart hadn’t been nearly as satisfying as he thought it would be. And it had strained his friendship with the red-headed jock indefinitely.

Jughead made a weak attempt to engage with the other guests of Cheryl’s intimate New Year’s Day gathering, but it was nearly impossible. Talking to Toni wasn’t even something he was interested in doing at the moment, especially when she kept eyeing him like she knew he was keeping a secret.

So he found himself taking a six pack of beers from the kitchen and wandering out to the sprawling back patio of the estate. He knew Betty would be pissed off at his lack of socializing with her friends, but he didn’t care. He was determined to enjoy himself the best way he could, by drinking all six beers and trying to talk himself out of texting Veronica Lodge.

Sunday couldn’t come fast enough.

\---

 

“Mmm…yes… _yes_ …” Veronica moaned as Sweetpea hovered over her, his muscular body covered in a sheen of sweat from how hard he’d been going for the past hour.

“Come for me, baby…” He said as he squeezed his eyes shut, as if he could will her to reach her climax.

Veronica knew it was time to pull out her usual performance of faking her orgasm. It was something she had always been strongly against when it came to sex, but she knew that Sweetpea’s ego couldn’t take the disappointment in not being able to completely satisfy her. So she had to do what she had to do.

She closed her eyes, but her mind pictured someone she knew she shouldn’t be thinking about. Too bad the sex she was currently experiencing was nothing compared to the mind-blowing explosions she’d felt when she’d been with the Serpent King.

She was still having the dreams. They wouldn’t relent no matter how hard she’d tried to shut them out, to not think about them the next morning. She wondered if she would ever again feel with anyone else what she’d felt with Jughead, or if she would constantly have the itch that only Jughead Jones could scratch.

And thinking about Jughead’s crooked grin and piercing gaze from a few days earlier didn’t help anything. It was incredibly unfair for him to do to her what he could so easily do. He not only invaded her consciously, but subconsciously too and it was fucking up everything.

“So, are you going to tell me where your head was at just now? Because whatever you were thinking about, it had nothing to do with me.”

Sweetpea got up from the bed, wiping his forehead before reaching for his jeans.

“What are you talking about?” Veronica asked as she sat up in her bed, suddenly feeling panicked.

Sweetpea grimaced as he tugged on his t-shirt.

“Don’t fuck around with me, Veronica. You’ve been acting strange for the past week. And don’t tell me it’s shit with your dad because when I asked you if you wanted me to take care of it, you said no. And I know the club is doing fine, and so is Pop’s. You’ve run out of reasons for shutting me out.”

Veronica hadn’t expected this at all. Sweetpea had never been angry at her like this before. She wasn’t even sure what to say.

“I…uh…I’m just…”

Sweetpea stood there, waiting for her to come up with a new excuse, but there was no way she could tell him that her inability to give him the full attention she’d once given him was all because of Jughead and his lost letter. Getting in the way of the two Serpents was the last thing she wanted to do.

“Forget it, V. You don’t have to explain. But I think you should know, I’ve been seeing other people. _Fucking_ other people, to be more accurate.” He waiting for Veronica’s reaction, but she said nothing.

She wasn’t sure if she was upset or relieved.

“You have the best pussy I’ve ever had, but it’s not worth getting my heart shredded over it. So…I think we should just…end this already.”

He stared at her as he pulled on his Serpent jacket, waiting for her to say something, whatever it might be.

“I’m…I’m sorry, Sweetpea. I don’t want you to get hurt either. I understand if you feel like you need this to be over.”

Sweetpea snorted as he shook his head in disbelief.

“Yeah…well...thanks for nothing, babe.”

Veronica watched as he left her room in a fury and slammed the trailer door behind him.

She collapsed back onto her bed with a long exhale.

Sweetpea had essentially told her he’d been cheating on her and she hadn’t even cared. Being with Sweetpea, something she thought she had wanted so badly was now gone, and instead of being devastated, she was totally fine.

Veronica got up from her bed to take a shower. To wash away the remnants of her brief relationship with Sweetpea. She could feel the guilt creeping in, knowing she had essentially used the Serpent as a way to get over the pain of Jughead and Betty getting back together.

If only she’d been given more time, she had hoped she would fall for Sweetpea the way she had fallen for Jughead, but it hadn’t worked.

It didn’t seem as if anyone could replace the way she’d felt about Jughead, not even a guy as sexy and desired as Sweetpea Malone. And now that she knew the truth, that Jughead had wanted to be with her, she couldn’t get the “what if’s” out of her mind.

She wondered if Jughead could be right, that Hiram had come by the day Jughead had left her the letter and taken it. It was definitely something her father was capable of, something he would certainly do if he had read what Jughead had written. Because sadly, Veronica’s happiness didn’t matter more than Hiram’s hatred for the Serpent leader.

But when Veronica thought back to the date of when she and Jughead had slept together, she remembered that her father had been out of town. From what she’d found out from her mother, Hiram had flown overseas to Switzerland, likely to withdraw some hidden funds from his Swiss bank account.

It had been one of the reasons why Veronica had shut down Pop’s and the speakeasy for that night. She knew her father wouldn’t be able to use the brief closing as some type of opportunity to sabotage what sustained her. Hiram would do anything to see her fail, hoping that she would then come running back to him, needing her daddy to bail her out, to help her. But with him out of town, she could breathe for a minute.

“ _Damn_ it.” She sighed, realizing that her father couldn’t be to blame for the letter disappearing.

And now she would probably never know what had happened to Jughead’s precious words, the writings from a guy who had always expressed himself best when he was putting what he felt down on paper.

She tried to tell herself that it didn’t matter anymore. Jughead was with Betty, regardless of some meaningless flirtation between him and Veronica earlier that day. He seemed happy to have Betty back again. That’s what she told herself, at least.. And after how she’d hurt Sweetpea, she had no intention of hurting anyone else. Even if the cost was her own happiness.

 

To be continued…

 


	7. Chapter 7

Jughead reveled in the way it felt to have Veronica’s arms wrapped around him as they rode to the boathouse on his motorcycle. The cold night air whipping around him was brutal, but something about Veronica’s body pressed against his back made him feel warmer than he’d felt since the summer.

His mind flashed back to the first time Veronica had ridden on his bike. She had been nervous, but she had refused to let him tease her about it.

“Sorry that I like my brains _inside_ my skull and not splattered all over Main Street.” She’d said as she stood with her arms crossed, eyeing the motorcycle with a discriminating look on her face.

“That’s what the helmet is for, Princess. To make sure your brains _don’t_ end up decorating downtown Riverdale.”

Veronica had shook her head, still not completely convinced.

“What is the appeal of this thing? Do you think it makes you look badass or something?” She asked as she reluctantly took the helmet from him.

“No, it makes me look _sexy_.” He had replied with a grin.

Veronica couldn’t hide her smile.

“Hmm, well, you make a good argument, Jones.” She’d said, a flirty tone in her voice.

“Think I’ll look sexy riding this thing too?”

Jughead’s heart had pounded wildly as he watched Veronica climb onto the back of the bike, her dress hiking up so far that he could feel his face getting warm.

“Um, not as sexy as me. Sorry, Princess.” He’s said teasingly, licking his lips, unable to stop staring at her.

Veronica had laughed, a hearty laugh that made her even more beautiful as she sat on his bike.

“Very funny, asshole.” She’d replied.

“You’ll need to wrap those scrawny arms around me. You okay with that?” He’d asked once he’d joined her on the bike.

“Yeah, I think I can handle that.” She’d purred in his ear, teasing him.

Jughead had practically melted at the way it felt to have her body against his. And his mind couldn’t stop from thinking about other things they could do that would involve their bodies touching.

The sexual tension between them had made him ridiculously nervous, and he wasn’t sure if he could concentrate on the road when he had Veronica Lodge wrapped around him. It was surreal and amazing.

“Looks like no one else is here.” Veronica said quietly in his ear as he parked the bike on the backside of the boathouse.

She was right. No one was there waiting outside for them.

“Maybe they parked somewhere else and came the rest of the way on foot. We should check inside.”

Veronica retrieved a small flashlight from her purse and led the way inside the small, dilapidated building. She was brave, there wasn’t even a question about it, and it made Jughead’s heart soften even more thinking about how she was always trying to protect him from Hiram, as if she’d never gotten over how her father had almost killed Jughead once already.

“It’s clear. No one is here.” She said after bouncing the light around the dark space, long ago abandoned after a terrible winter storm nearly forty years earlier. So long ago that Jughead’s dad barely remembered it.

“I was little but I remember the scared look on my mother’s face. It was a bad storm.” FP had told Jughead once when they had used the boathouse for a Serpent mission.

“We probably shouldn’t stay long. This place makes me nervous.” Veronica said, almost as if she was thinking out loud.

But Jughead wasn’t ready for their time alone, in the dark, to end anytime soon as he lit a few of the hanging oil lamps that still gave the place some light.

“We should wait a little longer, you know, just to make sure whoever might show up isn’t just running late or planning a sneak attack.”

Veronica eyed him suspiciously.

“Right.” She said, a smirk on her lips as she put her flashlight away.

“Are you cold? Do you need me to warm you up a little?” Jughead asked her, unable to stop himself from the shameless flirting.

“Cute, Jug. But I’m fine.” She replied as she took a seat on a stack of old pallets.

She tried to look annoyed but he could see the hint of a smile on her face.

“You know, I was just thinking about the first time you rode on my motorcycle. That was a…it was a good night that night.”

Veronica sighed wistfully.

“It was. Getting drunk on peach Schnapps while we sat by Sweetwater River watching the meteor shower. It’s definitely one of my favorite memories from last summer.” She replied as she smiled at him.

Jughead nodded.

“What’s your _favorite_ memory from last summer?” He asked, knowing which one came to mind for himself and hoping it was the same one for her.

But Veronica knew exactly what he was getting at.

“Oh probably when you fell on your ass that day we hiked up to Maple Hill.”

Jughead shook his head, chuckling as he took a seat next to her.

“Hey, it had _just_ rained. And that mud had it out for me.”

Veronica laughed and it warmed him to know he had been the one to bring the smile to her face. It had been too long since she’d looked at him as if she still cared about him.

The two sat in silence, both wanting to do something, but knowing they shouldn’t do anything.

But the energy between them couldn’t be ignored any longer as Jughead cautiously took Veronica’s hand in his. He let his fingers gently caress hers as he held her hand, running his thumb over her knuckles. She stared at the way his fingers were carefully interlaced with her own, chewing her lip as if considering something.

“Jug…”

Jughead sighed.

“I know, but can we _please_ just have this moment? Look how romantic this place is.”

Veronica chuckled as she looked up at their crumbling surroundings, but before she could say anything, Jughead captured her mouth with his own.

His free hand went to her cheek as the other still clutched hers, keeping her in place as he slanted his mouth, parting her lips with his own so that he could search out her tongue, sliding it gently against hers, savoring the taste of her. His hand went from her cheek, sliding into her hair, holding her to him as he consumed her in a deep kiss, her hand resting on his jaw. It was heaven.

The quiet moan that rose in her throat was enough for him to keep going, but not before Veronica quickly pulled away.

She was breathless as she shoved her hands in her coat pockets.

“This isn’t fair, Jughead.” She said as she stood up and walked to the opposite side of the boathouse.

Jughead knew he should feel guilty, should feel remorse for kissing the girl who wasn’t his girlfriend. But he didn’t. Not when kissing Veronica felt right.

“I know, Veronica. Because _you’re_ with Sweetpea and _I’m_ with Betty. But I know what you’re thinking. And I’m not trying to prove anything. I just know that you don’t want him the way you want me. And don’t you _dare_ deny it.”

Veronica shook her head.

“I’m not getting into this discussion with you. It’s pointless. We had our chance, it didn’t happen. Regardless of the reasons. We need to just…let go.”

But Jughead shook his head.

“What if I don’t _want_ to let go? What if I think we never really _got_ our chance?” He argued.

“What happened to it not being ‘meant to be’? You said it yourself. Why the sudden change of heart?” She asked, challenging him.

But he didn’t let up.

“Because I can’t just ignore how I feel, Veronica. I’ve ignored it for too long. Can’t we just…talk about this? Talk about _us_?”

He didn’t want to push her, but he could feel the energy between them. What had started over the summer was still there. And he wanted more than anything to see where it could lead to.

Veronica sighed.

“Jughead, please take me back to Pop’s.”

And just like that, she had shut down the conversation. A conversation that Jughead had been waiting to have for months.

“Fine.” He replied, frustrated.

He wasn’t going to force Veronica to do or say anything she didn’t want to. He cared about her too much for that.

But his heart was invested now, and he didn’t know what he was going to do about it.

\---

 

Veronica touched her lips as she lay in her bed, unable to get her mind off of the staggering kiss she’d shared with Jughead at the boathouse. It had left her pulse thumping and her heart pounding relentlessly. Why did he have to be so good?

The kiss had been on her mind much more than the fact that no one had ever showed up, strongly indicating that her father had known nothing about the plan because he hadn’t heard it. All the bugs in La Bonne Nuit were gone and she wouldn’t have to worry about Hiram’s eavesdropping any longer.

“The next phase of the plan is taking down your father’s Jingle Jangle headquarters. I’ll talk to the other Serpents about infiltrating the cabin when Hiram least expects it.” Jughead had said after he’d dropped her off at Pop’s.

She’d refused to let him take her home, too nervous that she would give in to the temptation of asking him to come in.

But she couldn’t give in to him, not when he was still with Betty.

Veronica hadn’t told Jughead that Sweetpea had broken up with her, not wanting him to feel some sort of encouragement from the news. Not wanting him to think of Betty as their only obstacle in the way of being together. If being together was even an option at all.

She didn’t want a relationship that came from the devastation of another one. It wouldn’t feel right. Besides, she had no idea how Jughead _really_ felt about Betty. For all she knew, he was in love with her, but unable to resist the memory of everything that had happened between him and Veronica over the summer.

They’d had a connection, a strong one, and there was no denying it.

Veronica had been living in the memories for weeks now. Remembering the sweet moments, the deep conversations, finding out just how much there was behind the guy she had once brushed off as being a beanie-wearing loner elitist who thought he was smarter than everyone else.

But what had surprised her most was how compassionate Jughead was towards her, even after all her father had tried to do to him.

She thought about the first time she’d let herself cry in front of him and how he’d held her, letting her cry into his shirt, stroking her hair, quietly telling her it was okay, that everything would be okay.

She had been so stressed out about life lately. The one year anniversary of her father having had Archie thrown into jail had hit her hard. Remembering the trauma of it all on top of Betty now dating the ex that Veronica had fought so hard for, had all come crashing down out of nowhere.

“And he actually sent me a bouquet of flowers, telling me how sorry he was to hear of mine and Archie’s breakup. It was disgusting, Jug. He takes so much glee in my pain. What kind of father does that make him?” She’d asked through unrelenting sobs.

“It makes him a straight up asshole. But I don’t think he knows how to be any other way, Veronica. He thinks complete loyalty and dependency on him is the only way you can honor him and show your love towards him. It’s not normal. I’m just so sorry.” He’d told her as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

“All he’s done this past year is try to ruin my life so that I’ll come home. I feel like I can’t rest, I’m always having to watch my back. It makes me just want to leave Riverdale altogether.” She said with an exasperated sigh.

“Don’t leave Riverdale, Veronica.” Jughead had said quietly, but with an urgency in his voice.

“Why not?” She’d asked with a sigh.

Jughead said nothing at first, but then put his mouth to her temple and murmured “Because I’d really miss you.”

She had smiled to herself, but said nothing, just held him a little tighter, wanting him to know she appreciated his words.

They had laid like that on her trailer couch for a long time, wrapped in each other, not saying a word, not needing to.

It wasn’t until the next morning, when sunlight streamed through the blinds of her living room that she even realized that Jughead was still there, having held her all night long while they’d slept.

“Thank you for being there for me last night, Jughead. You’re an amazing friend.” She’s said after they’d had some coffee with eggs and toast.

She had wanted to tell him so much more, to tell him that she had never felt so close to someone in her whole life. That she’d never leaned on anyone the way she’d let herself lean on him. That she thought she might be falling for him.

“Anytime, Veronica. Anytime you need _anything_ , I’m here.” He had said as he smiled at her, and she had believed him.

But now things were getting messy. She wanted him, and she knew she could have had him in the dimly lit, quiet boathouse where no one would know they were there or what they were doing. He’d wanted her too, but this wasn’t the way.

She sighed as she turned over in her bed, squeezing her eyes shut, hoping sleep would come so she could give her brain a rest from the mixture of thoughts and feelings that had been plaguing her all day. She still had a mission to complete, and once she and Jughead ended her father’s drug game, she would have to decide what to do, because something told her that life wasn’t going to get any easier once she crossed her father again.

\---

 

“So we’ll go during daylight hours, that way we’ll be able to see where the armed guards are stationed. Plus, Lodge won’t be expecting us to come in the morning. It will catch him off guard.” Jughead explained to the group of Serpents that would be a part of the plan to subvert the drug cabin at Shadow Lake.

He had already gone over the plan with Veronica, now it was just a matter of accomplishing the task at hand.

After Jughead answered any questions his team had, he made his way over to the bar where Sweetpea sat downing a beer before slamming the glass down and turning to Jughead.

“You doing alright, P? I noticed you didn’t insert any of your discerning commentary while I was talking about the plan.”

Sweetpea shrugged as he motioned to the bartender to get him another drink.

“Guess I’m not in the mood to question your authority at this particular moment.”

Jughead rarely ever saw Sweetpea in less than good spirits, but asking him what was wrong would be futile. Sweetpea would talk about anything except for his problems.

“But what do you think of the plan in general? Think it will work out okay?” Jughead asked curiously.

Sweetpea was his right hand man after all, and his opinion mattered to Jughead.

“It’s a good plan, Jones. I can’t say it pleases me to be helping out my ex-girlfriend, but taking down Hiram matters more.”

Jughead gave his friend a quizzical look as Sweetpea took a long gulp of his fresh beer.

“Ex-girlfriend? You and Veronica broke up? When?”

Veronica hadn’t said a word about her relationship with Sweetpea being on the rocks. She hadn’t even seemed upset. Jughead felt his pulse race wondering why she’d kept it a secret from him.

“A few days ago.” He replied sullenly.

“Who broke up with who?”

Sweetpea put down his beer and looked up at Jughead, annoyed.

“Damn, Jones. Why so fucking nosy? Don’t you have a raid to plan?”

Jughead smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry, man. I’ve just never seen you so torn up over a girl before.”

Sweetpea let out a bitter chuckle.

“Yeah, well…Veronica Lodge isn’t your average girl. I didn’t want to break it off with her, but I could tell she wasn’t as into me as I originally thought. And I’m pretty sure she was faking it during sex.”

Jughead’s eyes widened at Sweetpea’s candid confession.

“Don’t tell a fucking _soul_ that I just told you that, Jones. It’s this damn beer talking.” Sweetpea quickly corrected, realizing what he’d just let slip.

Jughead was floored by Sweetpea’s news, and he realized why Veronica hadn’t told him. She didn’t want him to break up with Betty for her, if that was what he would plan to do in order for it to be okay for him and Veronica to be together.

The sad truth was, he would definitely have had considered it if he’d known. But knowing it wasn’t what Veronica wanted put him in a difficult position. He wanted Veronica, and badly. He’d always wanted her, even when he’d tried to pretend he didn’t. The façade was cracking and he didn’t know how much longer he could hold it up. Knowing Veronica was single made it far too tempting for him to want to end things with Betty now.

“I’m sorry, P. I know how much it sucks. Believe me.”

Sweetpea shrugged.

“I’ll get over it. I am me, after all.”

Jughead patted his friend on the back, which was the most comfort that Sweetpea would allow.

Jughead couldn’t help but feel some guilt towards what Sweetpea was going through. He was pretty sure that Veronica hadn’t seemed into him because she was in the same position as Jughead was. Unable to forget the past, and unable to let go of the best they’d both had.

 

To be continued…

 


	8. Chapter 8

Veronica walked through the door of Riverdale High ready to start her first day of being in the Cooperative Education program, her fast track to finish school early.

She had to stay on her toes, after all, and being at school for just a few hours in the morning would get her back to Pop’s faster. Especially since she’d had an unwelcome visit from Hiram the day before.

As soon as her father had walked through the front door of Pop’s, she had abruptly stopped him.

“Don’t come in any further and do _not_ sit down. I absolutely do _not_ trust you in my place of business.”

But Hiram had only chuckled at his only child.

“Ah, yes, I realize you found the bugs I placed around La Bonne Nuit. It was a good lesson for you to learn, mija. Nunca dejes que un gato entre en la casa del raton.”

Veronica had crossed her arms, not letting herself look as intimidated as she felt.

“Look, Ronnie. I didn’t come here to cause a scene. I just wanted to tell you that if you don’t stop helping the Serpents with this absurd mission to shut down the Jingle Jangle labs, then I’m going to be forced to do something that I really don’t want to have to do. I know how much this… _business_ …as you call it, means to you.”

Veronica had glared at her father.

“This _legitimate_ business not only means a lot to _me_ but it means a lot to this whole town. The town that you are _intent_ on destroying.”

Hiram shook his head, a smirk on his face that made Veronica so angry that she wanted to cry. But she could never let her dear old dad see her upset. No, she had to be strong, no matter what he said or did.

“Besides, I can’t do anything about what the Serpents do with the little bit of insider information that I still had left.”

Hiram chuckled.

“Yes, you can. Don’t think I don’t know how much time you’ve been spending with Jughead Jones lately. I have eyes everywhere, mija. And from the apparent way in which I hear that he looks at you, well, you definitely have influence over what the Serpents do and _don’t_ do.”

Veronica could feel her face get warm, and it made her furious. She hated that her father knew just what to say to get under her skin.

“This is your only warning, Veronica. If I have to go through with my plans, I will. Please don’t make me. But if you refuse to listen, your room at home is ready for you to return once you fail.”

Veronica said nothing as Hiram waved at Pop, who had been standing behind Veronica protectively during their brief conversation, before giving his daughter a final fake grin as he left.

“What do you think he has planned?” Pop had asked her as she turned around and took a deep breath, her hands clenched so tightly into fists that she had to repeatedly tell herself to relax.

“I don’t know, Pop, but…make sure everything is in order up here. I’ll take care of La Bonne Nuit.”

So she had spent the night going over her books and making sure her liquor license was up to date, and anything else she could think of that her father might try to sabotage. Once she felt confident enough, she’d gone home to get a handful of hours of sleep before school.

But as she made her way to her Ms. Snicketts co-op classroom, she felt her feet dragging. That was until someone had grabbed her arm and was pulling her around the corner, away from any prying eyes.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you didn’t drop out of school, Frenchy.”

Veronica was met with Jughead’s cool, blue eyes as he pinned her to the wall with his whole body. His arms circled around her waist as he peppered kisses along her jaw and down her neck. His mouth on her skin was heavenly, and he was so close, she swore she could feel his heart beating.

But as much as she was enjoying his incredible lips brushing against her own, she quickly pushed him away.

“Don’t do shit like that, Jughead! What if someone sees us?” She asked angrily as she glared at him.

Jughead smirked.

“Then we’ll lie about it. You know, kind of like how you lied to me about you and Sweetpea breaking up.”

Veronica’s heart sunk. She should have known he’d find out sooner than later.

“I didn’t lie to you, I just didn’t tell you.” She replied as she looked anywhere but at his accusatory face.

“Semantics. Come on, Veronica, you _know_ that was important information. It changes everything.”

But Veronica shook her head.

“It changes _nothing_. You’re still with Betty.”

Jughead sighed.

“That’s the only issue, at this point, Veronica. And I can change that.”

Veronica scoffed. This was exactly what she’d feared.

“Oh, yes, because that wouldn’t cause a whole shit ton of drama for me. Imagine how much business I will lose all because I stole the boyfriend of Riverdale’s pride and joy. The precious Betty Cooper and her broken heart will be avenged by the townspeople boycotting burgers.”

Jughead chuckled.

“Oh that’s a little extreme, don’t you think?” He asked as he came close to her again, his hand cupping her cheek.

Veronica looked up at him, wanting him to understand that she wasn’t playing around. There was a lot at stake if they were to be together.

“Jughead, tell me why you went back to her so easily last summer? I mean, okay, so you didn’t get a response to your letter, I get that you were upset thinking I didn’t care about it, but it hadn’t even been a whole _week_ and you were back together with Betty. I need to know why.”

Jughead sighed as the bell rang.

“You’re going to be late.” He said quietly as he twirled a piece of her dark hair around his finger lovingly, gazing at her as if she was the center of his universe.

“I need you to answer me.” She said, her voice softer this time.

Jughead nodded.

“I will. We’ll talk about it later, okay?”

Veronica nodded in return.

“Okay.”

\---

 

“I kind of need to get going, Betts. I have Serpent business to deal with.” Jughead said as he stood by his motorcycle in the parking lot of Riverdale High.

He’d been avoiding Betty a lot lately, and he knew he was pushing it. He would have to sit down and have a talk with her. He had to be honest with her about everything, but mostly about his feelings for Veronica. It wasn’t fair to either girl for them to be hanging in limbo.

“Yeah, I know. Serpent business is all you ever do these days. I feel like I barely saw you all winter break.”

Jughead sighed, gathering up the string of apologies he’d been feeding his girlfriend for weeks.

“I’m sorry. I just…I have to get this drug situation under control. Until I do, I just need you to be patient with me.”

Just saying the words, he knew he sounded like a broken record.

“I think I’ve been way more than patient, Juggy. And I’m over it. In fact, I’m over this whole relationship.” She paused dramatically, waiting for his reaction.

Jughead raised an eyebrow, as if he didn’t quite believe she was being serious.

“I mean it, Jughead. You keep ditching me and giving me excuses for not being around. And when you actually _are_ physically present, you’re mentally checked out. I can’t take the stress of it anymore. Nothing is getting any better, it’s only getting worse. You haven’t been the same ever since we got back together. I mean, I’m sorry I hurt you last summer, but it’s like you _refuse_ to forgive me. And instead, you’re just making me miserable.”

He let her continue to go off on him, to get everything she needed to say out of her system. It was obvious that she kept a lot of what she’d been feeling locked up for months now. But then she said that thing that she knew would be a punch to the gut.

“You make me regret breaking up with Archie just to be with you again.”

The look on Betty’s face looked as though she hadn’t expected to say the words out loud just as much as Jughead hadn’t been prepared to hear them.

“Then why did you break up with Archie? You’ve never explained to me why you even wanted me back.” He asked through clenched teeth, trying to remain calm but so angry at the endless battle for Betty that he had been dealing with for too long, that he had taken part in for too long.

Betty didn’t say anything.

“Does it really matter now that it’s over between you and me _again_? I’m not going to back to Archie, but I certainly can’t be with you anymore, Jughead. It’s not working.”

Jughead nodded. He couldn’t disagree. And he knew that as much as he should be honest about Veronica, he didn’t think he should throw any salt in Betty’s wounds at the moment.

“You’re right, Betts. It’s not working. I think we’ve been trying to fool ourselves into thinking we were the same people that we were before we broke up. But we’re not…obviously.”

Tears played at the corners of Betty’s eyes. He knew this was hard for her. It was hard for him too. Hurting each other was never something he and Betty had ever wanted to do, but they seemed to do it over and over again.

She stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his in a tender kiss, her hands on his chest.

“I’ll miss this.” She murmured against his mouth.

“Kissing you _still_ gives me butterflies.”

Jughead sighed.

“I’m sorry I’m so good at it.” He said teasingly, eliciting a laugh from Betty, trying to ease the tense conversation as much as he could.

“Still friends?” She asked him as she gazed into his eyes, searching for sincerity in his reply.

“Of course. Always, Betty. Always.”

\---

 

It was late when Veronica came home to her trailer after her shift at Pop’s. The Christmas tree still glowed in the corner of the room. She hadn’t had time to take it down yet, and decided she could keep it up for one more day in honor of Dia De Los Reyes.

Everything had seemed okay during her hours at Pop’s, but she decided to close La Bonne Nuit for the week until the threat from her father passed.

She wasn’t sure how serious he was, but when the Serpents raided the Shadow Lake cabin in a few days, she would know for sure if Hiram’s threats were real or just a bluff. But she knew she was only kidding herself if she thought her dad was bluffing. Hiram never bluffed.

Veronica had just gotten out of the shower and was pulling on her robe when she heard a knock at her front door.

She knew without even answering it that it would be Jughead. And when she opened the door and saw him standing there, she felt the flutters in her stomach that only he had ever been able to give her.

“Can we talk?” He asked, his dark gaze full of the intensity that made him so impossible to resist.

“Sure, come in.” She replied as she stood back and let him enter.

He lay his bike helmet on her coffee table as he shook off his jacket and tossed it onto the footstool, the same way he’d always done since the first time he’d come over so many months ago.

“I have some…interesting news.” He began as his eyes raked over her, pausing as if he had forgotten what he had come to tell her.

The way he looked at her sent a shiver up her spine and to the base of her neck. She didn’t want to think about how close her bed was to where they stood, but it was a thought that invaded her mind no matter how hard she tried to focus on the one light that was out on the Christmas tree.

“Betty broke up with me after school today.”

Veronica’s eyes widened as she let the words sink in, but she was suspicious nonetheless.

“Did she? Or are you completely lying to my face right now?” She asked, cautiously.

Jughead shook his head adamantly.

“I’m not lying, Veronica. I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this. She broke up with me. She told me that things haven’t been right between us ever since we got back together. And she was right. Everything she said was true. I didn’t argue with her. So…yeah…it’s over.”

Veronica stood quietly, not quite sure what this might mean for her and Jughead. If it even meant anything at all.

“Say something, Ronnie.”

Veronica sighed as she hugged her body, feeling an incredible need to protect herself. It wasn't often that Jughead called her by her nickname, which meant he was laying his heart completely on the line in that moment.

“So…you come running here to me. Like I’m just going to be your rebound again? Your consolation prize?”

Jughead looked at her, perplexed and panicked.

“You know it’s not like that. It’s _never_ been like that.”

Veronica stood up and walked over to the light on the tree that no longer worked and tapped it, trying to collect her thoughts, hoping the lightbulb would light up along with the right words to say.

“Then tell me why you got back together with her so quickly if I wasn’t just a placeholder.”

Jughead sighed before taking a deep breath.

“I guess…my pride had been so decimated by what she did. And it wasn’t just the fact that she broke up with me, but that she broke up with me so that she could be with _Archie_. Archie, the guy that has always been the bane of my existence when it came to my relationship with Betty. He was my best friend, and he’s still a friend, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been tension between us when it came to her. I guess, after I didn’t hear from you…I thought you might have regretted what happened between us when you didn’t respond to my letter. So I was just…I was in a weak place.”

He sighed again before continuing.

“All of a sudden Betty was knocking on my door, begging for another chance, wanting me back, and my ego needed the boost. To be completely honest, I enjoyed the idea that I had, for once, beat Archie Andrews. I understand now that I was kidding myself, and I was being ridiculously immature.”

Veronica nodded, understanding, but still hurt by how quickly Jughead had seemed to move on.

“Veronica, if I’m being totally honest here, then you should also know that I was just making a worthless attempt at getting over you. I…I wanted you. I was…falling _in love_ with you. And it’s never gone away, even as hard as I tried to fight it. I was falling in love with you _then_ and I’m in love with you _now_.”

Veronica stared at him, not having expected the emotional confession.

“You were _never_ a placeholder, Veronica. And I’m so _fucking_ sorry that you thought you were. I wish you could have read my letter. I wish you could have read my words, then we wouldn’t have wasted all this time trying to hate each other.”

He sighed as he walked over to where she still stood by the tree, the glow of the lights bouncing off his handsome face, making him look like a dream she never wanted to wake up from.

“So now I need you to tell me how you feel about _me_. Please, Veronica.” He quietly begged as he stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers.

Veronica could barely breathe as he looked into her eyes, the blue pools sparkling brilliantly with a hint of mischief as his other hand began to undo the tie on her robe.

“Jughead…” She whispered before allowing her own heart to speak for her.

“I…I…was falling in love with you too last summer. In fact, I _had_ fallen in love with you. But I thought I had lost you for good when Betty got you back. It _killed_ me, and I wanted to hate you for it, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since. I tried to get over you, and I feel terrible about what happened with Sweetpea. But I don’t have the strength to deny any longer that I’m in love with you too, and I have been for all this time.”

Jughead let out a long exhale as he closed his eyes. His hands slid underneath the neckline of her robe and pushed it off of her shoulders, letting it drop to the floor, pooling around their feet.

He opened his eyes then and drank in her naked form hungrily. And in a sudden fury of unprovoked lust, they both tore at Jughead’s clothes until he was naked too.

“I only want to be with you, Jug. Only you.” She purred in his ear as she slung her arms around his neck, her bare skin against his.

He groaned quietly in her ear as his hands grabbed her ass, lifting her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist. His cock throbbed against her slick folds as he pressed her back against the trailer wall. She gripped his shoulders as he pushed himself into her.

She closed her eyes, biting her bottom lip at the explosive feeling of him filling her. It was all she had wanted ever since the first time, and he felt even better than she had remembered.

“Oh… _fuck_ …” she sighed into his mouth as their tongues tangled together in hot, desperate kisses.

Jughead didn’t take it easy as he slammed into her mercilessly, just as eager and anxious as she was.

“Veronica…baby…I want to make you come…” He murmured in her ear as he licked the places on her neck where he’d nipped and sucked, making her so wet that he had no choice but to carry her to her room and lay her down on her bed to keep himself from slipping out as he continued to pound into her with absolutely no restraint.

 “I’m… _coming_ …” She wept as he went even deeper, fucking her so hard she had to put her arms up to keep from hitting the headboard.

“Oh Jug….oh _God_ …” She panted as she bucked her hips and grabbed his ass, pushing his cock into her as deep as it could go as she shuddered underneath him, her body giving into the orgasm that burst throughout her whole body.

“I’m not done.” Jughead growled as he rolled onto his back so that she was now riding him.

She was dripping wet, and throbbed around him as he rested deep within her. A softly muttered curse slipped from her throat as he gripped her hips, his eyes full of a carnal desire that she had seen so many times before, but always made her pulse race uncontrollably.

She ran her hands down his muscular chest to his stomach.

“I’ve dreamt about you…and I’ve dreamt about this.” She said seductively before leaning down to kiss him.

As she pulled away, his hands clasped her breasts, his thumbs working the pink tips until he replaced a thumb with his mouth, sucking and tugging until she was groaning from the pleasure of it, her clit rubbed against him. She cried out from the constant stream of orgasms as he continued to dedicate full attention to her breasts, something that only he had ever been so expertly good at.

Veronica rolled her hips, working his thick, hard cock, setting the pace and making him moan her name over and over. It was the most wonderful sound and she knew she never wanted to hear any other man say her name the way Jughead did.

“I love you.” She sighed as she leaned back to work him from another angle, making him yelp from the change.

“Oh _God_ …I fucking love you too…” He replied as he winced from the incredible way she grinded into him.

He quickly flipped her onto her back, driving himself into her hard, readying himself for his own release after making her come countless times.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” He panted as he swept a strand of her hair away from her face.

He kept a hand on her neck, running a thumb over her lip as the other gripped the side of the bed, He thrusted harder and faster as Veronica threw her legs over his shoulders, allowing him to fuck her deeper. It felt blindingly good as her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

“Oh God… _fuck_ … _yes_ …” He grunted before finally plunging into her one last time, his body shaking as he came inside of her.

The two immediately found each other as they lay under the bed covers, their bodies tangled up together, their lips pressed against each other’s in feathery kisses as they tried to catch their breath.

“Finally.” Jughead murmured softly against her hair as she lay on his chest.

“Finally.”

 

To be continued...


	9. Chapter 9

 

“We’re going to be late for school.” Jughead said with a sleepy sigh as he lay on his side, regarding Veronica with an enamored grin on his face.

He hadn’t seen her look so peaceful in a long time, and he found pride in knowing he had something to do with how at ease she seemed. And his heart thundered deep in his chest when he remembered the look in her eyes when she told him that she was in love with him.

It was the one thing he had hoped for, and it was real.

“Do we _have_ to go?” She said with a mock whine as she pulled the blanket over her head.

Jughead chuckled.

 “It’s the responsible thing to do, Lodge.” He replied as he pulled the blanket off of her.

He had been unable to stop smiling from what had happened the night before. It had been an unbelievable night, to say the least, and he was beyond anxious to make love to Veronica again. He was, without a doubt, addicted to her.

“You’re right. _But_ …what if I promised you a whole day of unbridled pleasure, starting with breakfast in bed?”

He watched as she slunk back underneath the bed covers, a sly look on her gorgeous face before he suddenly felt her mouth on him.

“Oh… _shit_ …” He rasped as his cock got instantly hard from the contact.

He didn’t try to argue as he put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, savoring how phenomenal she was at what she was doing. The girl was convincing.

“Maybe we can be a little late…” He groaned as he felt her tongue circle the head before sliding back down his swollen shaft.

“Fair compromise.” She mumbled in return.

After a prolonged romp in Veronica’s bed, the sun was fully up and Veronica’s coffee maker had beeped, indicating it was now shutting off.

“We really do need to go. I know you have your history report due and I have an article to turn in to the Blue and Gold.” Jughead said with a deep sigh.

He didn’t want to get out of bed any more than Veronica did.

“What’s your article about?” Veronica asked as she got up and walked to her bathroom to turn on the shower.

“Oh, you know, I just thought I would announce to the whole school that Veronica Lodge is my girlfriend and we’re madly in love.” He said nonchalantly, waiting for her reaction.

Veronica poked her head out of the doorway, her cheeks flushed, and a small smile on her lips.

“Girlfriend?”

Jughead sat on the side of the bed, gripping the edge nervously.

“Uh…yeah…I mean…I figured…you know…if you want to be…I’d like for you to be…it makes sense, doesn’t it?”

Veronica leaned against the door frame and crooked a finger at him.

“Come…take a shower with me…my handsome _boyfriend_.”

Jughead grinned as he did as he was told, unable to resist her even if he had wanted to.

\---

 

“So you and Jughead, huh?” Kevin asked with a devious grin as he raised an eyebrow at Veronica while they sat together eating lunch in the school cafeteria.

Veronica nodded shyly. It still felt surreal.

“We’re not really telling the world yet, but yeah…you could say that we’re together.” She replied, her heart fluttering thinking about how Jughead had nervously asked her to be his girlfriend that morning.

She hadn’t even hesitated to say yes. It was the one thing she’d wanted ever since the summer but had denied for months until now.

“Wow, you’re blushing! _That’s_  a new look for you.” Kevin said as he raised an eyebrow at her.

“But I knew it was just a matter of time. You two have been at each other’s throats for months. Anger like that clearly only means one thing, that there’s intense passion underneath. Congratulations to you two for finally ending your stupidity.”

Veronica chuckled as she shook her head.

“We _were_ being pretty dumb, no doubt, but it was only because of that letter disappearing.”

Kevin sighed.

“Any ideas on who else could have taken it since it wasn’t your father?”

Veronica shook her head.

“No. But it doesn’t really matter now, I guess. And if someone _did_ take it, they only managed to keep me and Jug apart for just a handful of months.”

Kevin smiled.

“You two were destined. How romantic!”

Veronica could feel the warmth in her cheeks. She hadn’t been able to stop blushing since the night before.

“You must be talking about _me_ for Veronica’s cheeks to be as red as they are.”

Veronica turned to see Jughead approaching where she and Kevin sat.

“I thought you had to go to the Blue and Gold?” Veronica asked, surprised to see him as her heart thumped.

“I did, but I wanted to come by and tell you that Betty asked me to come by after school. She wants to talk to me about something ‘important.’”

The bitter feeling of jealously immediately put Veronica on edge.

As if he knew this might be an uncomfortable conversation to witness, Kevin got up from the table.

“I’ll see you later, V.” He said as he gave her a thumbs up before leaving the lunchroom.

“So what’s so _important_ that she needs to see you?”

Jughead shrugged.

“I don’t know, but it shouldn’t take long. Why? Don’t you trust me?”

Veronica looked down at her half eaten salad and suddenly had no desire to finish it.

“I do…but…I mean, this feels a little bit like history repeating itself. I can’t say I’m happy about you talking to her alone.”

Jughead chuckled as he took a seat next to her.

“You think she’s going to convince me to get back together? Is that what’s bothering you?”

Veronica didn’t say anything as she fidgeted with the collar of her sweater.

“Veronica, I’m not getting back together with her. This isn’t last summer. I love _you_ , and _nothing_ will change that.”

She wanted to trust the earnestness in his words, but when she remember how devastated she had been before, she wasn’t sure she could entirely believe him.

But she nodded anyway as she gave him a weak smile.

“Okay…but don’t keep me waiting long. We have to go over the plan to infiltrate the cabin tonight if we’re going to through with it tomorrow.”

Jughead took her hands in his.

“Don’t worry. Your father’s threats mean nothing. He’s just trying to fuck with your head. But I’ll be by later tonight. I promise.”

Veronica leaned forward so her lips swept against his ear.

“You better." She purred.

"Because last night and this morning was just the beginning.”

\---

 

It was already after dark when Jughead pulled into the Cooper’s driveway. He could feel the charge in the air indicating an early January snow storm. He silently prayed that this talk with Betty didn’t take long. He wanted to beat the storm and get back to Veronica so he could reassure her that whatever Betty wanted wasn’t enough to keep him away from her for long.

“Hey, thanks for coming by.” Betty said as she let Jughead enter the house.

He walked behind her as they went up the stairs and to her room.

“Is it really necessary for us to have this discussion in your bedroom?” He asked anxiously as he stood near the doorway.

Betty frowned at him.

“I know I have my issues, Jug, but I’m not going to like, attack you, okay? Sexually nor violently.” She replied as she sat down on her bed, grabbing a pillow as if she needed something comforting to hold onto.

Jughead gave her an embarrassed grin as he shut her door behind him. But he didn’t have any idea of what Betty wanted, which made him more uncomfortable than he thought he’d be. He took a seat on her desk chair, keeping his distance but trying to seem relaxed.

“Are you doing okay, Betts?” He asked, genuinely concerned with how she’d been feeling since their breakup the day before.

Betty nodded.

“I’m fine. Surprisingly more so than expected. I've just been doing a lot of thinking since yesterday...and I think I know why you and I were never able to get back to a good place after our breakup.”

Jughead gave her a questioning look, wondering what her theory might be.

She sighed deeply before she continued.

“I think…that you’re in love with someone else. And…I think…well, I _know_ …that it’s Veronica.”

Jughead’s mouth dropped open. For a second, he didn’t know if he should admit or deny what Betty had claimed to know.

“You’re probably wondering how I know, huh?”

Jughead cleared his throat as he sat up straighter.

“Uh…yeah…I mean…she hasn’t said anything to you, has she?”

Betty shook her head, a defeated look on her face as she pulled something out from under one of her bed pillows.

Jughead’s eyes widened immediately when he realized what Betty was holding in her hand.

“Is that?”

Betty nodded.

“It’s the letter you wrote to Veronica last summer. I…I took it.”

Betty’s face was flushed with embarrassment as she looked down at the folded piece of notebook paper.

Jughead had about a hundred questions, but all he could do was stare at Betty in amazement. He had never expected that she was the one who had taken it, even after Veronica had explained to him why it couldn’t have been Hiram.

“I had gone to see Veronica, not realizing she would be at work since she had closed the diner the night before. I wanted to talk to her. To apologize for how I had hurt her by dating Archie. I knew I should have apologized a lot sooner, but I was being a total chicken shit.”

Betty sighed as if remembering how she had only wanted to try to make things right, but got something totally different instead.

“I went to her door and saw a folded piece of paper stuck in the doorjamb. I knew it was none of my business to read it, but I was curious. You know me, always the investigator.” She said with a shallow laugh.

“I opened it up and began to read it. I knew immediately that it was your handwriting without even having to see your signature at the bottom. Needless to say, it ripped my heart to shreds to read that you were falling in love with her. I had no idea…”

Jughead swallowed hard. Causing Betty any kind of pain was always difficult for him, and he could imagine what she had been feeling when she’d read his words to Veronica.

“I didn’t know you two had been spending time together. That you had gotten so… _close_. It hurt so much to know that you had moved on, and moved on to Veronica, of all people. And things with Archie had been more complicated than I had expected them to be. I took it all as a sign that I needed to get you back. I couldn’t stand the thought of you being with anyone else.”

Tears were running down her face now, but Jughead didn’t move. His first instinct had always been to comfort Betty when she was upset, but what she had done had caused so much frustration and pain for not only Jughead, but Veronica as well. He could forgive her for it, but that didn’t mean he could let go of the blatant betrayal yet.

“So I took the letter with me, hid it away, and then begged for you to give me another chance before you had a chance to talk to Veronica about the letter. I _knew_ you were wondering why she’d never responded. I knew it hurt you. But I was hoping that being back together with me would help you to get over her.”

She took a deep breath before telling him the rest of what she had to say.

“And after a while, it seemed as if you didn’t even like her anymore, almost like you hated her. I foolishly thought it meant you were over her. I wanted to believe you really did loathe her, and I let myself believe it for awhile. But I was just in denial. I know you, Jughead, and I know from what you said in that letter that getting over Veronica wasn’t going to happen. And it was obvious that nothing I did worked when I noticed how you’d been pulling away from me over the last few weeks. She had stolen your heart from me, and I was finally able to admit it to myself yesterday.”

She looked up at him as she wiped tears from her cheeks, her nose red, her mouth turned down in sorrow.

“I wanted to give this back to you, so you can give it to Veronica. You two should be together.” She said as she held out the letter.

When Jughead got up to take it, his eyes met hers.

“Thank you, Betty. Thank you for finally telling me the truth. But…I…I need time to get over my frustration for what you did.”

Jughead shook his head, knowing he had his own confessions to make.

“Betts, I’ve been in anguish for _months_ thinking Veronica wanted nothing to do with me. So I _did_ try to hate her, I wanted to, but I couldn’t. And then, recently, she and I…we’ve been spending time together. She’s been helping me to try and find a way to get rid of Hiram’s Jingle Jangle operation. Eventually, I asked her about the letter…and of course, she had no idea what I was talking about.”

Jughead sighed as he took a seat next to Betty on her bed, turning the letter over and over in his hands.

“Veronica and I both realized we had been feeling the same way about each other…and one night not long ago…I kissed her. She refused to let things between us go any further while I was still with you. But then you broke up with me yesterday…”

The sound of a sob escaped from Betty’s throat, the realization that she had truly lost him.

“I’m sorry for not being honest with you about what was happening between me and Veronica. I know it wasn’t right to go behind your back that way. I truly am sorry for that.”

Betty nodded.

“It’s okay, Jug. I don’t blame you, and I’m not mad. This hurts so much, but what I did to you was way worse. And to be totally honest, I _knew_ it was just a matter of time before I lost you.”

She looked up at him, her eyes were red from crying, but she smiled.

“So…what now? Are you and Veronica going to give a relationship a shot?”

Jughead wasn’t sure what to tell her, not wanting there to be any more pain between them.

“I uh…um…” He stammered, not knowing just how honest he should be.

But Betty took his hand in hers and squeezed.

“Juggy…it’s _okay_ …but…if things don’t work out between you two…I’ll be here.”

\---

 

Veronica had been home from work for over two hours already and Jughead still hadn’t arrived. The snow outside was coming down faster and thicker than it had just an hour earlier, and she couldn’t help but worry, especially when her text messages to him had gone unanswered.

She didn’t want to imagine that her fears of losing him to Betty again were possibly coming true.

She wanted to trust Jughead, and she did, but trusting people had never come easily for Veronica. She had thought she could trust Archie, but then he had been secretly pining for Betty without her being the wiser of it. She thought she could trust Betty, but then Betty had thrown over their friendship to be with Archie.

And then there was the fact that Hiram had consistently been dishonest with her throughout her whole life, which didn’t add much to her ability to have blind faith in the new people that came along.

It was tough, but Veronica wanted to fight through it when it came to Jughead. Because Jughead was worth putting all of her trust into, no matter what. She wouldn’t let the way other people had hurt her keep her from being with him.

She thought about the night during the summer when she and Jughead had been doing inventory at the speakeasy, and how they both found a common ground in their shared struggle to trust and forgive.

“I’ve forgiven my dad so many times. Sometimes I wonder if I’m just being a complete fool in believing him when he says he’s changed.” Jughead told her as he wrote down how many bottles of Dom Perignon she had in stock behind the bar.

Veronica sighed.

“Sounds just like me. My father has made promises and broken promises my whole life. But I keep trying to believe he’s not the monster he often seems to be. I want to still believe in him…just like you want to believe in FP.”

Jughead chuckled.

“Fortunately, my dad has kept his promise for a while now. But there’s always that part of me that’s waiting for the other shoe to drop, ya know?”

Veronica had nodded, completely understanding what he meant.

“I know far too well, Jug. But I guess we love them enough to keep having faith in them. I just wonder if the faith will ever run out.” She had said solemnly.

Jughead had reached over then and taken her hand in his.

“Hey, I know putting your trust in someone is hard. But…if there’s ever someone you need to trust, let it be me.”

Her heart pulsed at the way he had looked at her, with a kindness and sincerity that she had never seen from him before. And she wished then that she hadn’t wasted so much time brushing him aside, believing he wasn’t worth her time because they were too different, that it was pointless trying to be close to him when he looked down on her anyway for being affluent and privileged.

“But would you trust me in return?” She’d asked, feeling like a ball of nerves, but refusing to look away from him.

Jughead had smiled.

“Of course I would.”

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on her front door. She grinned from ear to ear as she walked over to answer it, making sure her robe was open just enough to give a teasing view of her lacy lingerie.

“It’s about time.” She said as she opened the door.

But it wasn’t Jughead standing on the other side. It was Sweetpea.

“I guess it is.” He said with a smirk as he looked her over.

Veronica immediately pulled her robe closed.

“Uh…hey…Sweetpea.”

Sweetpea pushed open the door to come inside, and Veronica let him since the blast of cold was becoming increasingly uncomfortable as the snow storm continued to rage outside.

“What are you doing out in this storm?” She asked him, hoping he wouldn’t change the subject back to who she had been expecting to see at her door.

“I wanted to talk to you. To get something off my mind.”

Veronica motioned for Sweetpea to follow her into the living room and take a seat.

“What’s up?” She asked as they sat across from each other.

She had no clue what he could possibly want. He had broken up with her, after all, and Sweetpea had always been the “love them, leave them, and never look back” type. She hadn’t expected he’d ever acknowledge her again if he didn’t have to.

“It’s about Jughead.”

Sweetpea perched on the edge of the couch with his arms resting on his thighs, his hands threaded together as if he had something serious he needed to say. Suddenly, Veronica felt an intense concern wondering if Jughead was okay, and if Sweetpea had come to tell her that something awful had happened.

“What about him?” She asked, the panic rising in her voice.

Sweetpea looked up at her, hearing the urgency in her question.

“He’s fine, by the way. I just wanted to tell you that I think something is going on between you two. I saw his motorcycle parked in your driveway last night...and that it was still there this morning.”

He looked down at his hands before continuing.

“I just want you to tell me if I’m right.”

Veronica sighed, noticing that Sweetpea actually seemed concerned by the possibility that Veronica and Jughead were now together. And she wasn’t going to lie to him. She knew it was better for Sweetpea to hear it directly from her than from anyone else.

“Sweetpea…you’re right. But…why did you feel the need to come here and ask me? You and I broke up. You’re not upset, are you?”

Sweetpea stood up and began to pace the room.

“I just…I _never_ get attached, Veronica. I make _sure_ of it. But…it was different with you. As much as I tried to act like I hated your world…I didn’t. I didn’t hate it because it was part of who you are, and who you are began to matter to me.”

Veronica looked at him as if she wasn’t sure if he was being honest or just messing with her.

“I know, I know…it’s _very_ unlike me. But contrary to popular belief, I do have _actual_ feelings. And…I didn’t want to break up with you, V. I regret it. But I also knew something wasn’t right. And since I’m aware that Jones has been sniffing around, now I know that you’ve been sweating him all this time. I thought it was me keeping us from clicking, but I was actually trying. _You_ were the one holding out on me.”

He watched her reaction, and Veronica couldn’t disagree. She hadn’t really thought about it until that moment, but Sweetpea was right. _She_ had been the one not giving to the relationship, not the other way around. As much as she’d tried to blame Sweetpea for things not working, it wasn’t his fault.

“And I’d ask you for another chance but I have a feeling it’s too late for that now.”

Veronica didn’t say anything, but suddenly there was an urgent knocking at her front door.

She started to get up, but Sweetpea motioned for her to keep sitting as he walked over to answer the knocking that wouldn’t cease.

“Jones.” Sweetpea said with a smirk as he opened the door to find Jughead standing there, a scowl on his face as he pushed the door open and stepped inside.

“What are you doing here, P?” Jughead asked as he looked over at Veronica.

He looked uneasy when he noticed what she was wearing, and she felt the immediate need to explain to him that she had just been innocently waiting for him, and not for anyone else.

“I came to talk to Ronnie, so could you leave and let us continue our conversation?” Sweetpea asked, clearly annoyed by Jughead’s interruption.

“Like _hell_ I’m leaving.” Jughead replied as he removed his Serpent jacket and tossed it on the footstool.

He walked over to Veronica and tipped up her chin before giving her a long kiss on her lips.

“Sorry, I’m so late, babe. Finding roads that weren’t closed due to the storm wasn’t easy.”

Veronica’s heart throbbed to feel Jughead’s lips on hers, to just _see_ him. Her fears of losing him melted away in that moment. But her attention was quickly brought back to Sweetpea when she heard him chuckling.

“Seriously? Veronica, come on, what does Jones have that I don’t have?”

Jughead stood up straight, his hands clenching into fists.

“Why are you even here, Sweetpea? You said you were all about getting over her.”

Sweetpea shrugged.

“Guess I thought I’d give it another shot. I hadn’t realized you’d gone behind my back to be with her.” Sweetpea replied as he glared at the Serpent leader.

Jughead shook his head.

“I didn’t go behind your back, P. Veronica and I have history. It was history that wasn’t over. Besides, _you_ broke up with _her_. She’s free to be with anyone she wants. Even me.”

Sweetpea let out an exasperated sigh as he and Jughead slowly approached each other continuing to argue. Veronica wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t want to come in between the two of them, but she wasn’t sure how far they were willing to take their little dispute.

“Maybe we should step outside and decide just who _really_ deserves her.” Sweetpea said as he and Jughead stood face to face.

“If that’s what it will take to make you go away and not show your face around here anymore, then let’s go.” Jughead replied.

The two stared each other down until Veronica finally got up and squeezed between them.

“Okay, that’s _enough_. You two are both being chauvinistic assholes right now. If you want to fight each other, it’s _not_ going to be in front of my trailer and it’s _not_ going to be over me. You both can leave if this is how you think you solve a problem.”

Jughead and Sweetpea both looked at her as if she had just told them Hot Dog had died.

“ _Fine_.” Jughead seethed as he took a step backwards.

Sweetpea smirked, as if he had somehow won the battle.

“ _Fine_. But keep her warm for me. Because as soon as she dumps your ass, I’ll be waiting.”

Veronica rolled her eyes, annoyed at Sweetpea’s need to get the last word. But before she could turn to Jughead and thank him for ending the ridiculous argument, Jughead had gone up behind Sweetpea and shoved him hard.

Veronica watched in horror as Sweetpea turned around with his fist in the air, aiming for Jughead’s face, but Jughead ducked and came up underneath and grabbed Sweetpea’s other arm, twisting it behind his back.

“Get off me, Jones! Stop being a dick!” Sweetpea yelped.

“Oh, I’ll definitely keep her warm. Warmer than _you_ ever could! She’s got a _real_ man now!” Jughead shouted.

Veronica could feel her blood boiling at the sight of the two boys fighting over who was better for her. It was the most immature thing she had witnessed in a long time, and she quickly maneuvered around them both as they continued to try and punch each other. Finally, she threw open the front door before pushing them out into the snowy night.

“You two are acting like complete _idiots_! Get out of here before I call the cops!” She yelled as she stood in the doorway, watching as Jughead and Sweetpea stopped fighting long enough to stare up at her in total disbelief.

“Yeah, Sweetpea, get the fuck out of here!” Jughead bellowed as he pushed Sweetpea towards his waiting motorcycle.

But Veronica shook her head.

“No. _Both_ of you get out of here. I’ve had enough testosterone for the night.”

Jughead opened his mouth to object but she held up her hand, stopping him.

“Go home, Jughead. And when you decide to get your head out of your ass and act like a normal human being, we can talk.”

Jughead scowled at her.

“Yeah? And then what?” He asked as he put a hand to his side where Sweetpea had managed to land a decent hit.

Veronica smirked at him, knowing he would regret how he had behaved ever since he’d shown up at her trailer.

“And then I will _gladly_ show you what this looks like when it’s laying on my bedroom floor.” She said as she opened her robe, revealing the sexy bra and panties she had been wearing underneath.

Jughead’s eyes raked over her as a smiled played at his lips.

“You sure I can’t come back in?” He asked, his voice thick with need.

Veronica nodded.

“Oh, I’m sure. Good night, boys.”

And with that, she went back inside her warm trailer and slammed the door behind her.

 

To be continued...


	10. Chapter 10

“So it’s going to look like we are attacking the cabin, but it’s only to create a diversion for where the _real_ base of operations for the Jingle Jangle is currently located.” Jughead was saying as he briefed the Serpents on that morning’s plan.

It was six in the morning as Veronica sat among the crowd of Serpent gang members, coffee in hand, as Jughead instructed everyone on what their job was when it came to putting a huge dent in Hiram’s Jingle Jangle business.

“The real headquarters is actually hidden in the Shadow Lake Mines. While Hiram thinks we’re going after the cabin, we’ll actually be destroying the mine. That particular section of the mines has been abandoned for decades, and isn’t used for anything anymore, other than Hiram’s drugs. So we’ll be able to implode it with the dynamite we acquired from one of our underground sellers, thus, ending the one place where the Jingle Jangle has been coming from.”

Veronica smiled at the way Jughead used the word “thus” in his explanation. It was just that sort of thing that made her love him. He spoke like a writer, and it softened her heart from having been so angry at him over what he and Sweetpea had done the night before.

Of course, she had forgiven Jughead almost immediately after he’d left, but she hadn’t talked to him yet, enjoying the playfulness of their first real lovers quarrel.

“Hey, Ronnie.” She heard a quiet voice say.

Veronica looked up to see an embarrassed looking Sweetpea with a fresh black eye.

“Hey.” She said curtly before taking a sip of her coffee.

“I wanted to apologize to you…you know…for what happened last night. I guess I’m not used to having Jones get a girl that I can’t seem to hold onto. But it was immature and stupid to act the way I did. I hope you can forgive me for it.”

Veronica looked up and noticed Jughead watching her and Sweetpea closely from the bar, a frown on his face. Her eyes caught his but she quickly looked away. Not letting him off the hook quite that easy yet.

“I forgive you, Sweetpea. And I’m sorry if I hurt you. I never meant to. You’re a great guy, and I know that there is the perfect girl out there for you. She’ll be a lucky girl, and I mean that.” She replied as she gave him a tender smile.

“And you were right about what you said. I was the one holding out, and I blamed you when I should have been blaming myself. I was trying to get over Jughead, but I didn’t go about it in the right way. I’m so sorry that you got mixed up in _my_ immaturity.” She said sincerely, hoping he would accept her apology for how foolish she’d been.

Sweetpea nodded as he shyly ran a hand through his inky hair.

“Thanks, V. That means a lot to me. I think…maybe we just weren’t meant to be, but it was fun while it lasted.” He said with a chuckle.

“And…I wish you the best of luck with Jones. He’s an asshole sometimes, but…he’s a good leader…and a good guy.”

Veronica looked over at Jughead again, and she couldn’t help but smile, and he immediately smiled back.

“He really is.” She agreed as she stood up and gave Sweetpea a hug.

“Good luck out there today. I’m sorry you’re having to deal with my father for the hundredth time.”

She couldn’t help but feel guilty over the fact that the Serpents were having to come to the aid of the town, yet again, all in an effort to end her father’s tyranny.

“Hey, I’m looking forward to going after him and crippling his resources after all the shit he’s put you through. He’s going down, Ronnie.”

Veronica patted him reassuringly on the back as Fangs and Toni approached.

“I knew it! I _knew_ something was going on between you and Jughead ever since last summer!” Toni cheered, smiling from ear to ear at having heard the news from Riverdale gossips.

“We’ve both been waiting for you two dimwits to finally give in to your wanton desires. We knew it was just a matter of time and opportunity.” Cheryl chimed in with a smug grin on her face.

Veronica felt her face flush, and she hated herself for it. But it was one of those things she just didn’t have any control over when it came to Jughead.

“Yeah, yeah. So what do you want? A prize?” Veronica asked mockingly.

Toni chuckled.

“Yes! How about free shots for life at La Bonne Nuit for me and my girl?”

Veronica pursed her lips.

“Hmm, that might _very_ well be possible.” She replied with a laugh.

The friends chatted about the plans for the raid until Jughead suddenly announced to the group that it was time to head out.

“Group one goes with Sweetpea. Group two goes with me. Let’s ride, Serpents.”

It was finally time for them to stop her father, and hopefully for a long time to come.

\---

 

Jughead watched Veronica as everyone filed out of the Whyte Wyrm and into the parking lot.

He quickly moved through the crowd and grabbed her hand, pulling her to him.

She glared at him as he held her against him, his arms firmly locked around her waist.

“Let me go.” She fumed as she squirmed in his grasp.

She had tried to sound cold and convincing, but Jughead knew her well enough to know it was just an act.

“If I apologize, will you give me a good luck kiss?” He asked with a flirtatious smile as he pressed his forehead to hers.

Veronica huffed.

“Depends on how good your apology is.”

Jughead chuckled.

“Well, a really _good_ apology would require the two of us being alone somewhere…preferably with some cheap red wine, no clothes, and copious amounts of time on our hands.”

Veronica finally allowed a smile to form on her lips as her eyes met his.

“I’ll be looking forward to that, but in the meantime, a verbal apology in the freezing cold parking lot of the Wyrm will do.”

Jughead brushed his lips against hers, mumbling quietly.

“I’m so sorry, Veronica Lodge, for acting like a moronic jerk last night. You can punish me later, if you’d like to.” He said as he peppered kisses along her cheek, down her jaw, and to her neck.

Veronica sighed softly at the feel of his warm breath on her skin.

“Guess I owe you that kiss.” She replied seductively as she took his face in her hands and covered his mouth with her own.

She kissed him slow and deep, allowing her tongue to slide against his as he gripped her waist. It felt like heaven to have her in his arms after worrying all night about whether she would forgive him or not for how he had acted.

But he had been unable to stop himself from feeling a bitter jealously when he had seen Sweetpea’s motorcycle parked outside Veronica’s trailer after he had busted his ass trying to get to her before the storm got any worse.

He hadn’t at all expected Sweetpea to try and talk to Veronica after he had broken up with her. Jughead had always known Sweetpea to be the type that never got attached, and never went back to someone after he had ended things. “Over and done” had been the motto Sweetpea had lived by for as long as Jughead had known him.

But Jughead couldn’t blame Sweetpea for still being hung up on Veronica. She was the kind of girl that got into your system before you even realized she was there. And she was impossible to shake. Jughead knew first hand, because he had _tried_ to shake her, but he had lost miserably. Now Sweetpea was experiencing the same agony.

Jughead had gone home after Veronica had told him to leave, drank a few beers, and told his dad what had happened.

“Veronica Lodge isn’t your typical girl, Jug. She knows what she wants, and she knows what she _doesn’t_ want. Her mother was the same way. They are formidable women, but they will love you hard and stay by your side with fierce loyalty. So get used to other guys sniffing around, but never let it put you in a position of losing her. Women like Veronica and Hermione are not women that you ever want to let slip through your fingers.” FP had said during their father/son conversation.

Jughead couldn’t do anything but agree completely. And he vowed he would do his best to not let anyone else’s interest in Veronica cause him to lose her.

And he had been tested by it first thing that morning when he had watched Sweetpea approach Veronica during the Serpent meeting. It was all he could do to not walk over to where they stood talking and tell Sweetpea to take a hike. But he stayed planted where he was, but unable to look away until it was time to leave.

Thankfully, Veronica had smiled at him, and he knew that was his cue to talk to her and apologize.

“Whooo! Yeah! Get it, Jones!” They heard a voice holler, bringing them out of their passionate moment.

Jughead chuckled as he gazed into her russet brown eyes.

“You ready?” He asked her as he took her hand in his.

Veronica sucked in a breath and nodded.

“I’m ready.”

\---

 

The drive to the cabin was a difficult one, seeing as how so many of the roads leading up to Shadow Lake were still closed off from the snow storm the night before.

But Jughead knew it was to their advantage, because now, Hiram Lodge would especially not be expecting them to show up on a Thursday morning after a vicious blizzard to attack. If his guard was down, it would only help the mission go even easier than originally planned.

And as much as Jughead wanted to be at the mines, helping to destroy the brain of the Jingle Jangle operation, he knew it would look more convincing if he were at the cabin for their decoy mission.

Jughead smiled to himself at the feel of Veronica shifting closer to him as she sat behind him on his bike. The warmth of her body against his made him think all kinds of thoughts, but most of all, he was grateful that she was with him so that he could keep her safe.

Being safe was not necessarily how Veronica wanted to live, and it was something he’d known about her ever since the summer when they had spent an afternoon at Sweetwater River so that Veronica could collect river rocks for the fountain she’d just had installed in between the bathrooms at La Bonne Nuit.

“You know you could just buy rocks.” Jughead had told her as he watched her walking with her arms outstretched like she was attempting a high wire act.

The rushing water flowed over her small feet as she tiptoed daintily towards a large rock in the middle of the river. Jughead remembered wincing when she had slipped but had quickly put her hands in front of her in order to grasp the boulder she’d been aiming to get to.

“Authenticity is _everything_ , Jones. The only rocks I’ll ever buy will be diamonds.”

Even with how nervous he was for her safety, he couldn’t help but laugh. She was ridiculously confident and brave, and it made him proud to know her. To know that he had someone like her in his life that he didn’t have to protect, but he wanted to anyway.

“Catch!” She’s said as she began to throw the smooth river stones towards him.

He’d put them all into the bag she had brought with them, before she’d told him what they were even going to the river to do.

“You’re insane.” Jughead had told her as they’d begun their return back to where he’d parked his motorcycle.

Veronica had laughed in that way that made her shoulders shake.

“No, Jughead. I just enjoy a little danger every now and then. And you _know_ you do too. It’s what makes us feel alive, right?”

Jughead couldn’t argue with her logic. He had always felt a thrill from getting into things that weren’t necessarily innocuous. Not everyone understood why he was that way, but he was glad that Veronica seemed to get it, because she was that way too.

“What’s the most dangerous thing you could ever see yourself doing?” She’d asked him while they hiked along the riverbank.

Jugehad knew immediately what his answer would be. That the most dangerous thing he could think of doing was falling in love with her. And that was already beginning to happen.

But there was no way he was ready to tell her that, not when he had no idea what she might be feeling. Her friendship had become to mean so much to him that he couldn’t potentially ruin it by not being on the same page with her about how they felt about each other.

“Um…I don’t know…maybe…breaking in somewhere to get dirt on your father?” He’d said with a laugh.

Veronica had chuckled.

“Then we’ll have to do that someday, Jug.” She’d replied as if she truly meant it.

Jughead had wished he’d had a chance to ask her the same question, but they had been interrupted by a phone call from Pop asking her to come by and check out a new menu item. There had never been an opportunity to bring it up again, but he wondered if what he had considered to be the most dangerous thing he could think of was the same thing for her too. He made a mental note to ask her that question later when they were alone.

His thoughts were pushed aside when they finally arrived at Shadow Lake and parked their bikes so they could set out on foot through the woods.

“I still don’t get why you wouldn’t let me go to the mines with group one. I would have _loved_ to see my father’s _literal_ den of drugs go up in smoke.”

Jughead chuckled.

“Right. Like I’m going to let _you_ be anywhere close to dynamite. You’d probably stash some for yourself to use against me later if I ever piss you off again.”

Veronica laughed.

“You know me too well, Jughead Jones. But I thought it might have been because you didn’t want me around Sweetpea.”

Jughead smiled slyly.

“Well, that might have been _part_ of my motive.” He said as he put an arm around her waist while they trudged through the snow.

It took longer than expected to reach the cabin, but now, in the light of day, Jughead could get a cleaner look at what they were dealing with.

“Four guards on each side, just like before.” Jughead said quietly to the group.

“Take out each hand holding the automatic one by one, Cheryl. We have to disarm them.”

Cheryl nodded, her bow and arrow at the ready as they stepped closer to the cabin.

“The rest of you start circling the perimeter. Once the guards are without their weapons, we’ll need two men on each one. The rest of us will clear out any drug paraphernalia that might be inside. We know Hiram has eyes on this place, so make it look legit and intense.” Jughead told them as he pointed up into the trees at the cameras that were watching every move around the cabin.

“You have the key on you, babe?” Jughead asked as he turned to Veronica.

She nodded.

“It’s the same key he uses for all of his hideouts. Which just goes to show how many he has if he doesn’t want to have to deal with a different key for each one.” She said, rolling her eyes.

The Serpents crouched down as Cheryl took her aim at each guard, shooting one arrow that went straight into the left hand of each guard.

All four howled with pain, dropping to their knees while blood dripped onto the blanket of fresh snow under them.

“Move in!” Jughead shouted, igniting a burst of energy from the Serpents as they ran through the snow towards the cabin.

The take down unfolded flawlessly, just how Jughead had planned.

“Are you ready, milady?” Jughead asked as he took Veronica’s hand in his.

The two jogged quickly to the front door of the cabin as Veronica got out her key.

“Open the door, but don’t go in. I don’t want you taking the brunt of any possible surprises.” Jughead said quietly as they approached.

Veronica squeezed his hand, indicating she understood. He could sense how anxious she was, hoping that the plan would all turn out in their favor. She hadn’t signed up for any of this, but Jughead was grateful to her for willingly being a part of it.

“Ready to give daddy a show?” She asked Jughead once they were standing on the cabin porch.

Jughead smirked as he looked up at the camera that was trained on the front door before pulling Veronica to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his in a fiery kiss. Jughead held her face in his hands as he kissed her back, his eyes closed, all in.

He smiled against Veronica’s mouth as he continued to kiss the daughter of the man who had been tormenting his gang, his family, and himself for the past two years. He took pleasure in not only kissing the girl he loved, but knowing that Hiram Lodge was probably having a complete meltdown at what he was seeing.

Finally, Veronica pulled away.

“Hmm, very convincing.” She purred as she gazed at him.

She turned her head towards the camera and winked before sliding the key into the lock of the cabin door.

Several Serpents came up quickly, with flashlights beaming inside the dark cabin.

“Looks clear.” One of them said to Jughead as they began to enter the hideout.

But the place was completely empty. Jughead felt relieved. It meant that the real hideout was definitely the mines.

“Yep. He suspected you’d be back.” Veronica said quietly as she and Jughead looked around.

The only thing still in the cabin was a family photo of Veronica with her parents laying on the floor with the frame glass shattered in jagged pieces.

“Nice touch, daddykins.” She said with a chuckle.

“Time for Act Two.” Jughead said with a grin before stepping back out onto the porch.

He took a deep breath before proceeding to scream orders for the Serpents to torch the place to the ground. He stalked around the property, kicking the snow and punching the air like a man who was completely livid by being fooled.

He signaled for Cheryl to shoot out the cameras as Toni gave him a thumbs up, indicating she had called an ambulance for the injured guards.

Suddenly, his phone beeped with a text from Fangs.

_Group 1 has succeeded, boss._

Jughead kept his head down as he grinned. He couldn’t wait to celebrate with everyone once they got back to the Wyrm.

He looked over to see Veronica lighting matches and dropping them along the line of kerosene that had been poured around the cabin.

“Good news.” He said as he jogged over to her.

Veronica looked up at him expectantly.

“We won.”

\---

 

The party at the Whyte Wyrm was in full swing, a celebration over finally ending Hiram Lodge’s tightfisted grip on Riverdale’s Jingle Jangle addiction.

Veronica sat at a hightop watching the game of pool between Fangs and Sweetpea while Jughead made the rounds, thanking his team with high-five’s and fist bumps. Beer bottles clinked around the bar as Serpents relayed the events at the cabin and the mines.

“Never thought defeating your father on this level would feel so good.” Jughead said as he finally found his way over to her.

Veronica smiled nervously.

“It _does_ feel good…until he tries something else to destroy everything that’s good about this little town.” She said before taking a long drink of her glass of celebratory champagne she’d had sent over from the speakeasy.

“Hey, let’s just bask in this _possible_  temporary victory.” Jughead replied as he swept her hair back from her neck and nuzzled her, kissing the soft spot behind her ear.

She loved how bold he was when they were together, how unintimidated and uninhibited. It was a side of Jughead she had never known existed until they had become so close. She knew being Serpent King had given him confidence, a confidence that had only grown over the past couple of years. But every time she experienced it, she was amazed at how wildly her heart would beat. And it seemed as if she fell even deeper in love with him as each moment passed.

“Wanna get out of here?” He murmured as his lips brushed against her cheek while his hand moved down to the small of her back.

She didn’t say a word as she got up from her seat and took his hand in hers, a seductive smile on her face as she led him out of the bar and into the cold night.

Veronica stuck her hands in the pockets of her cape as she and Jughead approached his motorcycle. She breathed in the fresh air and felt a sense of peace she hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Jug…” She began as she looked up at him.

Jughead stopped, hearing the quiver in her voice.

“What is it, Veronica? What’s wrong?”

Veronica shook her head.

“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. And that’s the thing. I am so grateful to you and the Serpents for what you all did today. I can’t thank you enough. And…”

She couldn’t stop the tears, hot as they rolled down her cheeks.

“I hate crying.” She said, sniffling as she wiped the tears away.

Jughead wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair.

“I know, baby, I _know_ …but it’s going to be okay. No matter what your father tries to pull next, you have me. I’m here, and nothing will change that.”

Veronica rested her head on his chest, feeling warmer than she had in months.

“I know. And you’re completely right.” She agreed.

“Now let’s go home and fuck.”

\---

 

“Correction, last time we fucked, we _fucked_. Tonight, I’m making love to you.” Jughead said as he closed Veronica’s front door behind him.

He’d never been so happy to be allowed back in her trailer, and he was going to make every moment count.

“I don’t care what you want to call it, I just want your naked body on top of mine. Right _now_.” She replied as she took off her cape.

Jughead took off his Serpent jacket and laid it down on the footstool next to Veronica’s cape.

“Come here.” He said, his voice low with a carnal hunger for the woman he loved more than anything in the world.

He knew Veronica was never one to take orders, but she smiled as she stepped towards him until she was close enough for him to envelope her in his arms.

She ran her hands through his dark hair, knocking the beanie from his head as Jughead claimed her mouth with his, steadily adding pressure to the kiss until a muffled gasp escaped from Veronica’s lips, grabbing the front of his shirt in desperation.

It was all rushed breaths and hushed noises as they undressed quickly, making their way clumsily to her bedroom, not wanting to break their lip lock as they left a trail of clothing behind them.

Jughead’s heart pounded hard in his chest as Veronica looped her arms around his neck, her body pressing into him, fingers playing with the soft hair at the nape of his neck. He couldn’t stop the low, needy noise from rising in his throat as he pushed at the waistband of her panties until they slid down her legs and to the floor.

He had every intention of making up for the night before, when he had missed the opportunity to pull the lacy panties she had worn off of her then.

Jughead kissed the corner of her mouth, her jaw, and then his lips were at her ear.

“I love you.” He rasped, one of his hands around the swell of her thigh, pulling her leg up to wrap around his waist.

Veronica whimpered as her slick core came in contact with his rock hard cock, and he smiled to himself as his hand grabbed her ass and pushed her against him.

“I love you too.” She panted as his teeth scraped against her neck, his other hand aligned to the bones of her ribcage.

He pulled her down onto the bed with him, both chuckling quietly from the awkward fall before quickly coming together in a rush to continue what they’d begun.

“You make me crazy.” He said, a smile in his voice at the memory of the first time he’d said those words to her.

Veronica sighed, and returned his smile as she sat on his lap, easing him slowly into her, wanting to continue making him crazy.

They both let out a collective moan as they began to move together, Jughead’s hands knotted in her hair, her face hidden in his neck, peppering kisses along the ticking vein just underneath his skin.

Jughead draped his arms across Veronica’s back, holding her against him. He couldn’t stop kissing her mouth, and she couldn’t stop kissing him back as the warmth of his tongue brushed against hers, erasing every thought from his mind but one: making her come as many times as possible before they gave in to sleep.

She grinded her body eagerly against his, raw and unrestrained as he laid down on his back to watch her. He let her set her stride, only providing her leverage with his hands on her ass as she took him into her again and again, letting out soft moans and whimpers each time she did. She felt so good, it was unreal.

She made love to him as if it was beyond a desire and had become a need. He rocked his hips slightly against her as he raised up his hand to her breast, brushing his thumb over the soft peak, smirking at the way it hardened to his touch.

“Oh…yes…oh…Jughead…” Veronica cried out, her orgasm building as she gripped his shoulders.

The sight of her falling apart on top of him, sobbing his name, was the most incredible thing he had ever seen. And it made Jughead’s cock twitch inside of her, giving him goosebumps all over, wanting to come right along with her. But they weren’t finished yet.

He wrapped an arm around her lower back and rolled her over, taking his place above her. He set a relentless pace, enjoying the way her breasts bounced in response to how he was pounding himself into her. He winced at the way she bit her bottom lip, wrapping her legs around him, looking so sexy he could hardly believe she was real.

He didn’t want to come yet but Veronica looked him in his eyes, giving him that sultry, satisfied smirk that made him come undone every time.

“We have all night, handsome. Come, baby.” She purred.

That was all it took.

Jughead thrust deeply into her, clutching her waist as if he needed to hold on for dear life in response to his release.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers as he felt the jolt of orgasm hit him hard, his body shuddering as he came.

“ _Fuck_ …” He sighed as he breathed heavily into her neck.

Veronica wrapped her arms around him, whispering in the darkness of her room.

“Jughead Jones, you are _incredible_.”

 

To be continued…

 


	11. Chapter 11

Veronica and Jughead lay on their sides, facing each other in the dark of her room.

“What are you thinking about?” She asked him as he ran a thumb over her bottom lip, touching the place he had just kissed countless times throughout the night.

Jughead sighed.

“I don’t want to ruin the moment with my overthinking.”

Veronica chuckled.

“Jughead Jones _overthinking_? Never!” She teased.

She didn’t want him to ever hide what he felt, no matter what. She wanted to know everything there was to know about him, regardless of what it was.

“Tell me what’s bugging you.”

Jughead softly brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. He hadn’t stopped touching her ever since they’d left the Whyte Wyrm, almost as if he was afraid she would disappear if he didn’t somehow hold on.

“I just…I keep wondering if this is all going to end. If you’re going to end up hating me again for something. I don’t want to be so insecure, but that thought keeps creeping in. I don’t want to lose this.”

Veronica nodded, completely sympathetic with how he felt.

“I get it, Jug. I really do. We’ve always had this back and forth thing between us. The I hate you, I love you, I hate you again, I love you again. I’ve thought about the other shoe dropping too.”

Jughead’s eyes widened at her admission.

“You have?”

Veronica nodded.

“But I don’t want that to be the case this time. I’m so happy, Jug. You make me _so_ happy, and I can’t think of one thing that could change that. So let’s not waste time on negative thoughts and just live in the moment. We’ve earned this.”

Jughead exhaled, the look of relief on his face as he pulled her to him so they were nose to nose.

“Okay, no more negativity.” He said as he gazed at her before kissing her shoulder and down to her collarbone.

“You know…I’ve always had a crush on you, Lodge…ever since the first time I saw you. Being an asshole to you was just my stupid way of self-preservation. I’m sorry for all of the harsh things I’ve said to you in the past. I wasn’t being fair.”

Veronica’s heart fluttered at his confession. It was something she had always wondered, and had always secretly hoped.

“That’s just another thing we have in common, Jones. Me being a bitch to you was all so you would never know that I was secretly hot for you.”

Jughead laughed.

“It’s so weird to hear you say that. I never would have thought, not in a _million_ years, that Veronica Lodge wanted to be my girl. You were _very_ convincing in your disgust for me.”

Veronica rolled her eyes, remembering how awful she had been at times when it came to Jughead. It was something she would always be ashamed of and always try to make up for.

“Why are we so stubborn?” She asked him as she sat up and straddled him, feeling his cock suddenly growing harder underneath her.

Jughead grimaced in pleasure at the feel of her rubbing against him achingly slow.

“I guess…we’re just… _fuck_ …two of a kind…” He managed to reply as she took his erection in her hand and guided him into her.

“Mmmm…definitely feels like we were made for each other…” She sighed as she began to roll her hips on top of him.

Jughead clutched her waist, looking into her eyes, a sexy smirk on his face with the knowledge that she had never wanted anyone more than she wanted him.

And she would never want anyone else.

\---

 

Jughead woke to the sound of Veronica’s frantic voice as she sat up in bed with her phone to her ear.

“ _What_? Are you fucking _kidding_ me? I’ll be there in fifteen minutes tops!”

She scrambled out of the bed and pulled on a bra and panties before grabbing a dress from her closet.

“What’s going on?” Jughead asked sleepily as he rubbed his face with his hands.

“That was Pop. He said that some health inspector came by and is shutting down the diner and La Bonne Nuit due to some kind of trumped up code violations.”

Jughead sighed heavily as he felt his blood pressure rise.

“This reeks of Hiram.” He replied as he got up from the bed and pulled on his jeans.

Veronica nodded emphatically.

“Obviously this is my payback from yesterday.” She said as she brushed her hair and quickly fixed her makeup from the night before.

“We’ll take my bike. I know some tight alleyways that will get us there faster. Don’t worry, Veronica. It’ll be fine.”

But during the entire ride to Pop’s, Jughead could feel how hard Veronica’s heart was beating as she held onto him, her chest against his back. She was beyond worried. He could only hope they could come up with something to keep Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit from being shut down for too long.

Jughead had barely stopped his bike when Veronica jumped off and ran for the door of Pop’s.

He wasn’t far behind as they met the worried face of Pop Tate, wringing his hands as he pointed to the bold yellow notice on the front door claiming that the establishment had been shut down by the public health department.

“There’s one on the door for the speakeasy too, Veronica. The man left his card in case you want to contact him. I tried to get him to stay until you got here, but he said he didn’t have time to wait.”

Veronica took the business card and immediately pulled out her phone.

She stood tapping her foot anxiously, the stress and worry on her face was breaking Jughead’s heart. He found himself wishing he could find Hiram Lodge and demand that he stop trying to hurt his own flesh and blood just for sport. He knew that if only Hiram could see what he was doing to his daughter, he would stop trying to consistently ruin her life.

“No answer. Why am I _not_ surprised?”

She looked back at Pop.

“Did he give a specific reason for _why_ he was shutting us down?”

Pop shook his head.

“He said he could only discuss that with the owner.”

Jughead could feel the anger rising in him, and it was all he could do to keep himself in check for Veronica’s sake.

“That’s total bullshit.” He growled, his voice low.

Veronica tried the phone number on the card again, and then a third time, finally resorting to leaving a message.

“I have a feeling that I won’t be hearing back from him anytime soon. I shouldn’t be surprised that my father has health inspectors in his back pocket.”

Jughead put a comforting arm around her, but he knew it did little to help her feel better.

“Pop, tell the staff that you and the rest of them can go home. But be ready to return. I’m going to get this resolved as soon as possible.”

But Jughead and Veronica sat at a table in the speakeasy for the rest of the day, trying to find a loophole or a solution to get the club and the diner back open. But they both knew that any idea they had likely wouldn’t work. Hiram’s reach went far, and it was often solid.

Calls to the health department were met with some clerical assistant telling them that the report on Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit was definitely in the system, but they had no way of accessing what the report actually said regarding the violations, which left Veronica without any ability to fix what the “violations” might be.

Veronica even briefly considered asking her mother for help, but she knew that Mayor Lodge was still far too devoted to helping Hiram with his schemes, even the ones involving Veronica.

Jughead even suggested that they just take the notices off the doors and pretend nothing happened.

“Clever idea, but we don’t need to risk getting another violation on top of this one, nor jail time.” Veronica had told him after briefly considering his crazy idea.

“We should have just left Hiram and the Jingle Jangle trade alone. But I just _had_ to go and try to be some fucking grand savior of the town.” Jughead sighed as he sat back in his chair, tossing back another glass of the bourbon from Veronica’s private stash.

“Please don’t think that way, Jug. The drug situation was out of control. My father _needed_ to be stopped. I knew there was a risk that he would do something shitty to get back at me. He warned me. I guess I just didn’t think he would actually go this far. I was being naïve.”

Jughead scoffed, feeling tipsy and bitter at the predicament they were in.

“To mess with his own daughter’s livelihood...he _truly_ is an evil bastard. I know he’s your father, and you still love him, but the things he does to you are so fucked _up_.”

Veronica sighed heavily as she poured herself another glass of the pinot noir she’d been saving for a special occasion, but was now using for drowning her sorrows. Jughead made a mental note to get her another bottle of it as soon as he could.

“I know…and it’s why I look forward to the day I can get out of this town. To go away some place where he’ll never find me. Now that I might be losing my business, it’s almost like a sign that I should just leave.”

Jughead’s heart throbbed with pain at the thought of Veronica leaving Riverdale behind. Leaving Riverdale also meant she would be leaving him, and now that she was finally his, he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.

He knew then that he would have to do something to keep her close. He loved her after all, and he wouldn’t let her go without doing everything he could so that she wouldn’t have to.

“Hey, we’ll figure things out. Just because we’re in a war with your father doesn’t mean he’s won. This is just another fight, and we can win this one too. It will be okay, baby. I promise.”

Veronica smiled at him, as if his words were a salve to her worried heart.

He knew it wouldn’t be easy, but he would find a way to get Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit open again. He was determined.

In the meantime, he knew they both desperately needed a distraction.

“Hey…come over here.” He said with a devious grin as he pushed his chair back from the table.

Veronica couldn’t control the way her lips pulled into a smile, knowing full well what he had on his mind to cheer them both up.

She got up from her chair and removed her panties as she made her way over to Jughead’s side of the table.

He watched, his pulse racing, his cock getting harder by the second, straining inside his jeans to be released. And Veronica was happy to help as she gazed into his eyes, not looking away while she unbuttoned and pulled down the zipper, reaching her hand inside the faded denim to touch him achingly slow.

Her other hand grabbed his shoulder while she guided him into her, sitting astride him as he sat on the chair.

“Mmm… _fuck_ …” He sighed, already forgetting about the day’s drama as he stared into her shimmering brown eyes.

Veronica gave him a sultry smile in return.

“I fucking love fucking you.” She sighed before tossing her head back in pleasure, bracing herself by grabbing his knee with one hand while the other continued to grip his shoulder as she ground her body against his.

He wasn’t sure what he was more desperate to do, ravage her mouth with his own or continue running his hands up her dress until her breasts were in his hands. So he did both as she whimpered softly from his touch and his kiss.

“Oh…god…I’m…coming…” She moaned against his lips in between heavy breaths.

Jughead sighed with relief, grateful she was ready to explode just as much as he was.

They reached a dizzying orgasm together, Veronica wrapping her arms around Jughead’s neck arching into him as he grabbed her ass with both hands, his body jerking against hers as he came inside of her.

“Holy shit…” He groaned against her neck before peppering the smooth skin with feathery light kisses.

Suddenly, they both heard a knock on the backdoor of the speakeasy.

“Who the fuck could _that_ be?” Jughead asked with a laugh.

But before Veronica could respond, they heard a muffled voice on the other side of the door.

“Veronica? Are you there? It’s me, Archie Andrews.”

\---

 

Veronica swung open the door to the speakeasy, still trying to smooth down her hair with her hand, to see Archie standing on the other side with a look of concern on his face.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked, worry in his voice as he looked her over.

Veronica hadn’t talked much to Archie ever since they had broken up, but they were on considerably decent terms with each other. She had forgiven him for how he had broken her heart, especially after he had apologized to her once Betty had broken up with him to get back together with Jughead.

“I’ll never forgive myself for how insensitive I was towards you when we broke up. I know how you feel now…” He had said to her before school had started.

He had never indicated that he wanted to get back together, and Veronica had been surprisingly relieved. After falling in love with Jughead, she knew there was no way she could ever feel for Archie what she once had felt for him before.

And she didn’t want to use Archie as a way to get over Jughead, nor as a way to get back at Jughead either. It wasn’t the kind of person she was, and Archie didn’t deserve that.

Instead, she had waited a while before dating again, hoping a relationship with Sweetpea would heal her heartache. But no one was Jughead, and no one would ever stack up to the Holden Caulfield of Riverdale High.

“Yeah, Arch, I’m fine. It’s been a shitty day, but I’m…really okay.” She said with a furtive smile, thinking about what she and Jughead had just done in order to give their sour mood a boost.

Archie shook his head.

“What the hell happened? The whole town is talking about Pop’s closing. I saw your statement that you sent to the Register online. But nothing makes sense. Pop’s has never had any problems with the Health Department before.”

Veronica shrugged as she let Archie into the club so they didn’t have to talk out in the cold. She wasn’t sure she and Jughead were completely ready to tell Archie about the two of them, but there was no time like the present.

“Unfortunately, this is likely the doing of my dear father. Jughead and the Serpents destroyed my father’s Jingle Jangle drug lab yesterday morning with my help. So, getting Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit shut down was his checkmate.”

Archie’s eyes narrowed when he saw Jughead standing anxiously by the bar, his beanie still laying on the floor after having somehow ended up there during his and Veronica’s chair quickie.

“Uh…hey Archie.” Jughead said anxiously as all three sets of eyes landed on the lone clothing item.

Jughead quickly picked up the beanie and put it back over his dark, tousled locks.

“Hey, Jug...um…so…did I walk into something going on here with you two?” Archie asked as he looked between his best friend and his ex-girlfriend.

Veronica’s heart was pounding, her hands shaky with the awkward confrontation.

“Well…um…yes, actually.” Veronica said quietly.

“But we can talk about that later. You came by to see if I was okay, and I am. And we’ll figure something out as far as getting the diner and club back open. Jughead…and I…have been working on it all day.”

Archie nodded slowly as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his letterman jacket.

“So you two are…what? Together? _You_ _two_ of all people?”

Jughead glared at his best friend since birth.

“Like she said, we can talk about it _later_ if necessary. But if you want to know the basics, then yeah, we’re together. Veronica is _my_ girlfriend, Archie.”

Veronica shot Jughead a look. She wasn’t going to tolerate another display of pigheaded masculinity like he had previously done with Sweetpea.

“You couldn’t have talked to me about it, Jug?” Archie asked, a pained look on his face at the unexpected news.

Jughead chuckled.

“Oh, because you talked to _me_ about deciding you wanted to dump Veronica and be with Betty last summer? I’m sorry, Archie, but guy code ceases to exist between you and me in this particular circumstance.”

Archie nodded as he pulled a hand out of his pocket and stuck it out towards Jughead.

“Fair enough. As long as you both are happy, then I’m happy too.” He said sincerely.

Jughead stuck his hand out and shook Archie’s, and Veronica was incredibly grateful for the maturity of the situation.

“We _are_ happy…honestly, Archie.” She said with a reassuring smile.

Archie smiled back, and it felt as though everything was genuinely okay.

“Hey, I’m sorry about your dad giving you shit again, Ronnie. Let me know if you need any help. My dad is in pretty tight with the Health Department. He might be able to get you some information that could be helpful. I’m on my way home now, so I’ll talk to him.”

Veronica put a hand to her heart.

“Thank you, Archie. I…we…really appreciate that.” She said as she motioned towards Jughead.

Archie looked over at his friend one last time before leaving.

“You two really do look happy. I hope things work out for you guys.”

Veronica couldn’t help but hope so too.

 

To be continued…

 


	12. Chapter 12

Jughead sat in his Physics class, staring out the window at nothing in particular. He couldn’t get Veronica’s predicament out of his mind. And every minute that went by, Veronica was losing money that she needed in order to survive and so were all of her employees, especially Pop Tate.

He felt his jaw clench and his hands pull into fists whenever he envisioned Hiram’s smug face at having gotten his revenge on his daughter. She had messed with his business, so in turn, he had messed with hers.

The only difference was, what Hiram was doing was harmful and illegal while Veronica owned and ran something that meant everything to Riverdale. Pop’s was the heart of their town, and having it shut down for the first time in all the decades that it had been open, shook everyone’s foundation.

Jughead had spoken to the Serpents about what was going on, and everyone was working on finding out what they could get on Hiram in order to force his hand into calling off the Health Department. But so far, they’d had no luck.

Jughead knew that his only option left was to talk to Hiram himself, and do whatever he had to do in order to get the diner and the club back open and running again.

“Are you going to tell Veronica your plan?” Toni asked, noticing how deep in thought the Serpent leader was.

She was the only one he had told about his idea for helping Veronica, out of apprehension that someone would try to talk him out of facing down the man who had once tried to have him killed.

Jughead shook his head no.

“She’d never go for it. But I’m willing to ask forgiveness rather than permission. And once I convince Hiram to call off his henchman, then she won’t stay pissed at me for long. Especially when I get her alone.” He said as he gave a wink, trying to lighten the dismal mood he’d been in all day.

Toni rolled her eyes.

“Ugh, you two are going to be that annoying couple that make out all the time making everyone else super uncomfortable, aren’t you?”

Jughead nodded, a smug grin on his face.

“Remind me to down a bottle of Pepto before I have to spend any time with you guys. And good luck with facing her father. Call us if you need any backup, Jug. You know we are willing to help you and Veronica with anything.”

Jughead thanked his fellow Serpent and friend, feeling grateful for his gang. They were his army when it came to defeating Hiram Lodge, and he didn’t know what he would do without them.

When the bell rang, Jughead quickly dumped his books in his locker and headed out to the parking lot. Ditching school wasn’t something he made a habit of, but he couldn’t wait any longer to confront Hiram. He was resolved to getting answers and a solution.

And when he arrived at the Pembrooke, Hiram was more than ready to meet with him, which immediately made Jughead suspicious.

“I thought I might see you sooner than later. Now that you are apparently involved with my daughter, I knew your hero complex would bring you knocking.” Hiram said as he motioned for Jughead to take a seat before he sat down behind his large, mahogany desk.

He glared at Jughead, obviously disgusted with the Serpent King.

“Glad to know you saw our little, personal message to you the day we destroyed your drug hold on our town.” Jughead replied with a satisfied smirk.

Hiram sat back in his chair, his hands threaded together as he regarded the young man who he had deemed his mortal enemy in his desperation to take over Riverdale, to use as a pawn in his business games.

“Yes, and because of your little stunt, it only fueled a greater need to give my daughter drastic consequences.” He replied with an expression mirroring Jughead’s.

Jughead took a deep breath in an effort to keep himself calm when he really wanted nothing more than to come across the desk and wrap his hands around Hiram’s neck.

“You needed to be stopped, Hiram. We’re not going to let you destroy this town, no matter what you try to do. The Jingle Jangle is gone now, so maybe it’s time for you to leave as well.”

Hiram let out a deep chuckle.

“You know that I would _never_ leave my family. Especially my daughter.”

Jughead shook his head.

“And yet you treat your daughter like some type of traitor when she’s only trying to do something good and honest with her life. What you did, getting Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit shut down, was completely execrable. Even for _you_. She’s your _daughter_ , Hiram. How could you mess with her business like this? You would destroy everything she’s fought so hard for, _worked_ for hard for? What the hell is wrong with you?”

Hiram sighed, as if Jughead had no idea what he was defending.

“Jughead, Veronica knows how things work in our family. She knows the lengths I will go to have my family back together. And above all, she knows not to cross me. But she did, and she has to learn that I will _always_ have the upper hand.”

Jughead started to object, but Hiram held up his hand.

“But, there _is_ something that can be done, if you really want to help my little girl.” He said as he pulled a piece of paper out of his desk drawer.

Jughead wasn’t sure what it said, but it looked like some type of contract.

“I’ll do anything to help her.” Jughead said, confidently.

He wouldn’t let Hiram Lodge try to shake him.

Hiram nodded.

“I’m not surprised. You seem to greatly care for her.”

Jughead nodded in agreement.

“I don’t just care about her, Hiram. I _love_ her.”

Hiram got an eerie smile on his face at Jughead’s confession. It was unsettling, but Jughead didn’t waver.

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say.” He replied as he handed Jughead the contract.

“And since you love her so much, I know you’d be willing to do whatever necessary to get the diner and the speakeasy back open for good. Free and clear.”

Jughead sighed heavily as he read the contract.

“You want me to stay away from her.” Jughead stated as his heart began to pound.

An unbearable sadness filled his chest, making it hard to even breathe. The thought of not being able to be with Veronica when he had just gotten her back into his life, was unbearably heartbreaking.

Hiram cleared his throat, seemingly aware of the amount of emotion Jughead was feeling at being told that this was the only way to help Veronica.

“Exactly. I can’t have my daughter romantically involved with a Jones. It’s disgraceful and beneath her. So go ahead and sign the contract, agreeing to end your relationship with her, and I will have the Health Department reinstate her business license.”

Jughead wanted to scream, to tell Hiram to leave him and Veronica the fuck alone once and for all. To tell him that they would find a way to get Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit open again, no matter how long it took.

But when it came down to it, Jughead knew that Hiram would never stop finding a way to win.

“Veronica will hate you for this.” Jughead seethed as he glowered at the father of the woman he loved more than his own life.

Hiram shrugged.

“She may, for a time. But blood is thicker than water. I’m her father, she’ll always love me. But you…you’re just a current distraction.”

Jughead said nothing, only stared at the contract, contemplating what he should do.

He loved Veronica, and he knew he could be selfish and just walk out of Hiram Lodge’s office, leaving the contract behind. But he had no idea how long it might take for him and Veronica to find a way to get the club and diner back open on their own. He didn’t want her to have to wait any longer than she already had.

He had to make the decision that as much as she loved him too, her business had to come first. It mattered more than he ever could.

“Fine. You win.” Jughead replied as he took one of the desk pens from its holder.

He scribbled his signature, finalizing the contract that would force him to break up with Veronica, all the while breaking his own heart in the process.

\---

 

Veronica stared at her phone after having taken a call from an unknown phone number.

“The debt has been paid. You’re allowed to reopen for business.”

That’s what the corrupt inspector from the Health Department had told her just a few minutes earlier before hanging up.

She could only wonder why everything was back to normal all of a sudden.

But instead of waiting around wondering, she quickly text messaged her staff to head back into work before she began turning on the fryer’s and coffee makers.

Just as she had started the jukebox back up, she heard the chime on the front door ring.

It was Jughead.

“Hey baby! I missed you last night. But guess what? I’m allowed to reopen!” She said as she bounced over to him and threw her arms around his neck.

She pressed her lips to his, allowing a long, sweltering kiss to take place before pulling back to look at him. But he was clutching her waist so tightly, his eyes closed, a pained look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” She asked him as she cupped his face in her hands.

Jughead sighed heavily as his eyes flicked open.

“Veronica…I…I have to tell you something.”

Veronica stared at him, trying to read his expression of pure anguish that wouldn’t go away, even when she pressed her whole body against his, hoping the warmth would ease him as she peppered kisses on the corner of his mouth, his lips and cheek while she ran her hand through the shock of black hair that always swooped over his forehead so sexily.

“What is it?” She asked, unable to hide her smile as she gazed at him adoringly.

She had never been so head over heels for anyone before. Jughead was, without a doubt, the _best_ part of her world.

“I went to see your father yesterday.”

The words hit her like a brick wall. After everything her father had done to Jughead over the years, starting with trying to have him killed, she didn’t want the man she loved anywhere near the man she loathed.

“Why would you do something like that?” She asked, confused and concerned.

She could only imagine what her father might have said to Jughead to make him so obviously miserable. And then she was suddenly hit with why she had received the call from the inspector but hadn’t seen Jughead the night before.

“Shit…what did you do, Jughead?” She asked, her voice trembling, praying it wasn’t what she feared most.

Jughead pulled his hands away from her then as he looked down at the floor beneath them.

“I wanted to do something to help you. This whole thing with Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit being shut down was causing you so much pain and stress. I hated how unfair this has been on you. So, I thought that talking to your father would be the only way to get your business back. That we could come up with a solution. Well…when I got to the Pembrooke…your father…he already _had_ a solution.”

Veronica swallowed hard, not sure she would ever be ready to hear just what her father’s solution might have been, but knowing she had no choice but to ask the grim questions.

“What did he say? What was the trade off?”

She still couldn’t find it in her to let Jughead go as she kept her arms circled around his neck, even though his hands were now stuck in his back pockets and he wouldn’t look her in the eye.

“Veronica…he had a contract written up already…and…I had to sign it.”

Veronica could feel her pulse racing, dread coursed through her veins as tears began to well up in her eyes.

“What did the contract _say_ , Jughead? Tell me!” She yelped, panic starting to rise in her voice.

Jughead took a step back from her as her arms fell to her sides.

“It said…the Health Department would leave you alone and allow you to reopen if…if I break up with you. Your father _definitely_ saw our kiss the day of the raid, I even told him that I was in love with you…And he used that information as his leverage to end us.”

Veronica didn’t want to believe that anything Jughead was saying was true. She wanted it to all be some stupid joke. But she knew it wasn’t a joke, it was a nightmare.

“Please explain to me _why_ you would sign _anything_ from my father without talking to me about it first.” She managed to say calmly, still hoping that there was some kind of misunderstanding to this whole contract deal.

Jughead shook his head.

“Veronica, I had no choice. This was the only way. You _know_ we’ve tried everything else.”

Veronica stepped back from him.

“So…that’s what you came here to do? To break up with me? After we swore that _nothing_ would ever pull us apart again?”

Her chest hurt, and her head throbbed with unshed tears. She couldn’t believe this was happening. That she was having her heart broken again. But this time, she knew it would never mend.

“This isn’t _nothing_ , Veronica. This is your _father_. The man who would do whatever he had to in order to control your life along with this town. I can’t defeat him. You haven’t been able to defeat him either. So I signed the contract so you could have Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit back. Please think about that. Think about how important the diner and the club are.”

Veronica crossed her arms over her chest.

“This is not the way I wanted to get my business back, Jug. You _know_ I would never have agreed to this. You heard Archie, he said he could get Mr. Andrews to help. Why couldn’t you have just told me what you were planning to do? Why couldn’t you have _waited_?” She asked as the tears began to slide down her cheeks, unable to hold back any longer.”

Jughead grimaced as he glared at something behind her. She knew he couldn’t bring himself to look at her, and she understood why, but it was killing her.

“We _couldn’t_ wait any longer. You were losing money, your employees weren’t getting paid. Who knows if Mr. Andrews could have even done anything? I just…I don’t know what other option we had. This place, Veronica…it means everything to you. And it means everything to Riverdale. You can’t let it die just because your dad is an enormous dick.”

Veronica’s bottom lip quivered as she tried to ignore the deep ache she felt in her heart at knowing she was losing the one thing that had made her happier than anything else, even happier than owning the chock-lit-shop and the speakeasy. She could protest all she wanted, but what was done was done and any deal that her father had made with Jughead would certainly be ironclad now that Jughead has signed.

“Fine. You did what you felt you had to do. I understand that you did it for me…I guess.”

Jughead gave her an offended look.

“You _guess_?”

Veronica shrugged as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“I just wonder how much of this was really for _me_ and how much of this was so my father would also stay away from you and the Serpents. You knew he’d be gunning for you after destroying the drug mine. I’m sure he included in the contract a clause about leaving the Serpents alone if you promise to stay away from me.”

Jughead started to object, but stopped himself.

“It doesn’t matter what was in the contract. What _matters_ is that I _love_ you, Veronica Lodge, and when you’re happy, then _I’m_ happy. This place…this is what you need in your life way more than you could ever need _me_. This place will make you happy no matter what. I don’t know that I will always be able to.”

Veronica couldn’t hide the wounded look on her face at his words. He had managed to completely crush her, something she never expected he would ever do.

“Sounds to me like you’ve been unsure about us from the beginning. And now this… _this_ was your way out. Signing some bullshit deal with the devil himself.” She took a breath as she squeezed her eyes shut.

“Just...leave, Jughead. Please, leave now.”

But he didn’t at first. Instead, he stood there watching her, finally looking at her, but Veronica was no longer able to look at him.

“Veronica…I love you. I always will. Nothing will ever change that. That is the _one_ promise that I can make to you that will _never_ be broken.”

She couldn’t say anything as she shook her head, the pain completely overwhelming her.

And she couldn’t watch him leave. It was too excruciating. Instead, she headed down to the speakeasy and found her most expensive bottle of whiskey. But nothing would ever be able to numb the gut-wrenching agony of losing Jughead Jones.

The other shoe had dropped.

 

To be continued…

 


	13. Chapter 13

“Are you going to be okay, man?” Fangs asked as Jughead lay with his head on the bar of the Whyte Wyrm, so drunk that he could barely move.

“Nope. Never. Just leave me here to rot, please.”

Without even looking up he knew that Sweetpea, Fangs, Cheryl, and Toni were all giving each other looks of worry mixed with irritation and eyerolling.

“Jones, why did you sign that contract? You know we have ways of getting shit done.” Sweetpea said, clearly disappointed in his leader.

Jughead rolled his head on the bar, too drunk to even look up.

“I thought of everything, P. Signing was my only option. And now everything is okay…”

He heard Toni click her tongue.

“Except you and Veronica. I bet you anything she is just as drunk as you are right now. Cheryl, we should go see her.”

Jughead suddenly sat up.

“Tell her I love her! Tell her I’m sorry! Tell her that someday we’ll be together again, I _promise_!”

Through his blurry, drunken vision, he could see his father coming through the door of the Whyte Wyrm and quickly approaching where Jughead sat. And he looked angry.

“Dad! Hey, man! Wanna beer? Just put it on my tab.”

But suddenly Jughead was being jerked off of his stool.

“No, I don’t want a damn beer!” FP yelped as he drug Jughead through the crowed bar and out into the frigid night air.

“Where we going, pops?” Jughead asked, his words slurring to the point where he wasn’t even sure if his dad understood him since he didn’t respond.

“Get in the truck.” FP growled as he opened up the passenger door to his truck.

Jughead never before realized what a struggle it was to get into a vehicle after a dozen or so beers, but he finally managed to shut the truck door, slumping against it, his cheek resting on the cold glass of the window.

“Who called you?” He mumbled once FP has started up the truck and began heading in the direction of the trailer park.

“Sweetpea. Told me you were rambling on about being forced to breakup with Veronica because of Hiram. That you signed a contract to get Pop’s reopened.”

Jughead chuckled, realizing that it hadn’t just been a terrible nightmare. He really had done the one thing he never thought he would do: make a horrifying deal with Hiram Lodge.

“What got into you, son? Why would you sign something like that without talking to anyone about it first?”

Jughead sighed. There was no way to make anyone understand that he’d had no choice. That in order to fix things, he had to make a huge sacrifice. And sacrifices seemed to be his forte.

“Are you afraid of being with Veronica, Jughead?”

Jughead turned his head and looked at his father like he’d lost his mind.

“Of course not! I love her!” He exclaimed, his head hurting at the sound of his own voice.

FP shook his head.

“Then promise me that you’ll never back down again when it comes to Hiram. Once we find a way to eradicate that contract, you better hold on to that girl as tight as you can, and _never_ let go again.”

Jughead nodded in agreement, but he didn’t think they’d ever be able to get by Hiram Lodge. He would just have to love Veronica from afar, and pray she would love him too until Hiram was no longer a problem.

He only wished he knew how long he’d have to wait.

\---

 

Veronica walked into school Monday morning wearing her sunglasses with no intention of taking them off.

“Still recovering from your weekend bender?” Toni asked as she fell in step with her heartbroken friend.

“Thank you for looking out for me, T. But don’t judge me. I’m sad.”

Toni chuckled sympathetically.

“I know, and that’s why I made mani-pedi appointments for me, you, Cheryl and Kevin after Rivervixen practice.”

Normally a day at the nail salon with her girlfriends and best guy friend would be just what Veronica needed to cheer herself up, but she couldn’t think of one damn thing that would make her feel better about no longer being with Jughead. Even getting her toes and nails painted with her favorite nail color, Purple with a Purpose, wouldn’t cut it.

“Toni, that’s so sweet of you, but I don’t think I’d be very good company today.”

Toni sighed as she stopped Veronica and stood in front of her, putting her hands on Veronica’s shoulders.

“Look, I know you are miserable right now, but Jughead did all of this because he _loves_ you. Please have some faith in the fact that he is completely _done_ for when it comes to you. Even if you can’t be together, your hearts still belong to each other.”

Tears pricked at the corners of Veronica’s eyes. She knew what Toni was saying was the truth, but the pain of everything was still so raw. She was thrilled to have her club and diner back open and running smoothly, but the absolute grief she felt for what she had lost in order to gain back her business was utterly crushing.

It wasn’t just that she couldn’t be with Jughead. That she couldn’t hold him, make love to him, talk to him whenever she wanted about anything and everything. The pain she felt also came from the fact that her father had cared more about controlling her life than about her genuine happiness. That he hated knowing she was in love with Jughead Jones so much that he had to find a way to destroy it.

It didn’t feel like something a father should do. She couldn’t imagine FP ever doing something like that to Jughead, nor Fred ever doing that to Archie. Why did her _own_ father have to be the type of person who was capable of such horrible acts against a daughter he claimed to love more than anything?

She couldn’t wrap her mind around it, couldn’t fathom it. And her mother was unable to give her any insight or help when Veronica had called her begging for Hermione Lodge to help her get Hiram to tear up the contract and allow their only child to just live her life.

“Doesn’t daddy understand that he and I could actually have a decent relationship if he could just respect me and my decisions?” Veronica had asked her mother during their phone conversation a few days earlier.

But Hermione hadn’t said much in return.

“He has his reasons, Ronnie. Even if we don’t understand them at this time.”

It had been useless and hopeless trying to find a way for her and Jughead to be able to be together.

_He’ll have eyes everywhere, watching us._

Said the text from Jughead when Veronica had asked him why they couldn’t just pretend to be broken up but just be together behind closed doors.

_If he gets even one whiff that I am reneging on our contract, he’ll have Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit closed for good._

Veronica wasn’t sure Jughead would even be able to come into the diner for a burger without her getting slapped with a violation. The torment of it all was beyond stressful.

“I suppose…I could use something to make me forget about everything for a little while.” Veronica said to Toni as the two started back towards their first class.

“Thank _God_. I have never seen you so wound up and depressed in all the time I’ve known you. It’s just…not right.” Toni replied with a relieved exhale.

Veronica sighed.

“I know…I don’t like it either. So does this salon have wine? I could really use a drink.”

Toni rolled her eyes.

“No wine for you! We’re going to enjoy our _dry_ afternoon, and it will help you feel better. I promise. You have friends, V. And we are here for you.”

\---

 

Jughead sat at his desk in the Blue & Gold office, writing his latest article in regards to the Jingle Jangle drug bust for the next edition of the school paper.

As much as he had hoped that doing some writing would get his mind off of the dull ache in his chest, it hadn’t helped at all.

The whole story revolved around how Veronica had led the charge with her insider information and access to everything they had needed to make the raid on the drug trade a successful one.

He thought about the way she had kissed him in front of the cabin, giving her father a front row seat to what Jughead Jones had come to mean to her. It had been like a dream, and he still couldn’t believe it had been real. Veronica’s scorching kiss had solidified for him that she was the only woman he could ever want for the rest of his life.

The kiss had meant everything to him. She was so open, so willing, so unafraid to lay it all on the line. But it had cost them both the one thing that meant everything. If only they had played their cards a little closer, maybe his deal with Hiram would have been something different. Maybe it wouldn’t have cost him the love of his life.

“I thought you and Veronica were all happy and in love? So how come you both look so damn depressed?” Betty asked as she walked into the office and plopped her backpack down on her desk.

Jughead glared at her. He knew Betty well enough to know that she was enjoying his and Veronica’s misery a little too much. She seemed far too chipper knowing things weren’t totally okay.

“We _are_ , but there’s a big problem in the shape of Hiram Lodge making things more than difficult for us.” Jughead divulged, wanting nothing more than to just get back to his work without being pestered by his ex.

“Well…that’s very… _inconvenient_ , seeing as how you and Veronica are both on the ballot for Winter Formal King and Queen.”

Jughead’s eyes widened as he looked up at Betty who was smiling deviously.

“I thought we were doing a Valentine’s Day dance this year instead of the Winter Formal. And how the _hell_ did I get on a ballot for king?”

“Things changed. The dance committee was itching for a dance since Cheryl’s party kind of ruined the idea of a Christmas one. And, as far and you and Veronica getting on the ballot? I guess there are actually people in this school that really like the idea of you two together. I think they’re already making ‘Team Jeronica’ posters as we speak.”

Jughead’s heart fell to the pit of his stomach.

“Betty, you’ve _got_ to get us off that ballot. We can’t…we can’t be on that stage together.”

Betty scoffed.

“What makes you so sure that you two will win anyway? Archie, Reggie, Kevin, Josie, Cheryl, Toni, me, Sweetpea are all on the ballot too. Stiff competition, Juggy.”

Jughead rolled his eyes.

“Just, get us off that ballot, please Betts. I don’t want to even risk the chance of winning.”

Betty sighed as if Jughead was asking her to give him one of her kidneys.

“I’ll see what I can do.” She replied, making her annoyance obvious.

“Thank you, Betty. I really do appreciate it.”

Betty nodded.

“Yeah, well…you owe me.” She said with a laugh.

Jughead chuckled.

“Okay, fine. What’s your price?” He asked.

Betty gave him a victorious smirk and he suddenly wished he would have learned his lesson about making deals with people that might have ulterior motives.

“Be my date for the dance.”

\---

 

Veronica slammed her locker shut.

“He’s going to the dance with Betty.”

That’s what Archie had told her about Jughead when he’d come into Pop’s the night before to give her an update on his father’s talk with his Health Department contact.

So far Fred’s contact was looking into finding out who the person might be that was on Hiram Lodge’s payroll.

“My dad’s friend says they have a few good leads. We’re getting somewhere, Veronica. Your dad won’t ever be able to use the Health Department against you again.”

The information had been good to hear, but it was the part about the dance that haunted her.

“What? _Why_?” She had asked him, the panic rising so rapidly that she had to take a drink of water to calm herself.

Archie had shook his head.

“I don’t know. But…if you don’t have a date, Ronnie…maybe you and I could go together.”

Veronica hadn’t remembered if she had told Archie yes or not, all she could focus on was the fact that Betty had found a way back to Jughead. Or maybe it had been Jughead that had found a way back to Betty. Maybe he had never gotten over her like he’d claimed. Maybe Veronica had been a fool all over again. But this time, there was no missing letter.

The past week without Jughead had been the worst week of her life. She couldn’t sleep or eat. All she could do was throw herself into her work and school, and do her best to not text him, to not drive by his trailer, or the Whyte Wyrm. They were being watched, after all. She missed him so much that it felt as if her heart would completely give out at any moment. The pain was unreal.

And now this news of him going to the dance with Betty not only gave her a stabbing ache in her gut, but had also infuriated her.

“What’s with the scowl? You’ve had it on your face all day.” Toni asked as they changed in the girl’s locker room after Rivervixen practice.

Veronica shook her head as she tied her towel around her, she didn’t even want to get into it. She was too angry, and didn’t want to say something she might regret.

“Let me guess…it has something to do with a tall, dark-haired, really cute, fledgling writer who is rumored to be going to the Winter Formal with a certain blonde ponytail wearing ex?”

Veronica glared at Toni before going back to folding her uniform in silence.

“Veronica, you know there’s got to be some very Jughead reason for it. Maybe he’s just using Betty as a front, so that Hiram will back off his spying on you two.” Toni offered.

It wasn’t a terrible theory, but it still didn’t give Veronica any clear answers. She was just about to ask Toni to find out exactly what Jughead’s plans were but before she could a loud voice suddenly echoed through the locker room as girls began to yelp and swear from the disruption.

“Ladies, ladies, I have my hand over my eyes! I’m not looking, I promise! I just need one of you to please steer me in the direction of Veronica Lodge. Please! I’m a desperate man in love!”

It was Jughead.

Toni and Veronica stared at each other in disbelief.

“ _Why_ is he such an idiot?” Veronica asked as she stood up from the bench and peered around the bank of lockers.

“Because he’s a desperate man in love.” Toni replied with a laugh.

“She’s over here, Jones!” Toni chirped as she took Veronica by the hand and dragged her to where Jughead stood in the middle of the locker room.

She placed Veronica’s hand in Jughead’s one free hand, and the energy that hit Veronica’s body was undeniable.

“Clear out, ladies! Let’s give these two some privacy.”

Veronica sighed as she looked up at Jughead who was smiling with his hand still covering his eyes. It felt as though it had been forever since she’d been this close to him.

“What the _hell_ are you doing?” She asked as a unshed tears rimmed her eyes, but she was grinning from ear to ear.

“Can I take my hand off my eyes now?” He asked.

Veronica chuckled.

“Yes, everyone left.”

Jughead lowered his hand and opened his eyes.

“Whoa…got anything on under that towel?” He asked, his voice full of seduction.

Veronica shook her head as she gave him a sultry smile.

“Wait! I’m pissed off at you!” She said as she dropped his hand and stepped back.

The thrill of seeing him had caused her to forget all about him going to the dance with Betty Cooper.

“You heard about Betty. But it’s not what you think. I’m not going as her date. I’m only going because I owe her a favor. It means nothing, Veronica. And…that’s why I had to find a way to see you. I figured your dad couldn’t possibly know anything about me being in the Rivervixen locker room.”

Veronica crossed her arms, still not happy to have what Archie told her confirmed by Jughead.

“You can understand why I’m uneasy about you going to Winter Formal with your ex, right? Especially since it’s Betty? This takes me all the way back to last summer, Jughead.”

Jughead nodded.

“I know, and I understand. But this isn’t like last summer. I’m not getting back together with her just because I can’t be with you right now.” He sighed as he closed his eyes, as if he was under a burden just as heavy as the one Veronica had been under too.

“But I’ll be able to see you under the guise of it looking as if we’ve moved on. And…maybe even get a chance to dance with you? You know I loathe these kinds of things, Veronica, but I’ll take _any_ opportunity to be in the same room with you. I miss you _so_ _fucking_ much.”’

Veronicas could feel her heart thawing. She could never stay mad at Jughead for long.

“I miss you too.” She said quietly.

“Don’t be mad at me, okay?” He asked, the look on his face full of hope.

Veronica grabbed his hand in hers and led him away from the door of the locker room and back to a dark corner in between rows of lockers.

“What are we doing back here?” He asked with a knowing grin, closing the space between them as he backed her up against the cold metal, the locks rattling as she quickly undid the button and zipper on his jeans.

“Making the most of our time.” She purred as she let her towel drop to the floor.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands grabbed her ass, holding her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist.

“Don’t _ever_ question my love for you again, Veronica Lodge. This is just one of the many reasons why you’re the _only_ girl for me.” He murmured against her lips.

Veronica let out a low chuckle as he buried his head in her neck, kissing her hotly while she tossed his beanie to the floor so she could run her hands through his dark locks.

“Just fuck me, Jones.” She groaned as he slowly pushed himself into her.

It was an incredible moment, one that healed the hurt she’d been trying to deal with for the past week as she lost herself in the unbelievable feeling of Jughead making love to her.

And it was a moment that would be punctuated by Jughead telling her that maybe they could find other ways to sneak around to meet up. It was the first thing that had given Veronica some hope in weeks. It wasn’t ideal, but it was at least something.

But the very next day, Veronica had a note waiting for her on the counter of Pop’s.

_“Next time you try to see him, I’ll shut down Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit for good. This is your last warning, mija._

_Te amo,_

_Tus padre”_

Veronica ripped up the note and threw the pieces in one of the French fry baskets before dumping it in the garbage.

“Are you okay, Veronica?” Pop asked as he witnessed the fit of anger from his young boss.

“No…but I will be, Pop. Someday.”

 

To be continued…

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

Jughead had somehow known his happiness would be short lived when Veronica had texted him a photo of her father’s note.

Hiram Lodge really did have eyes everywhere, which meant he even had classmates at Riverdale High on his payroll of snitches. Maybe even some Rivervixens. And the thought of Veronica’s own friends betraying her by alerting Hiram to her every move, sent a wave of rage throughout his body, making him so on edge that it was all he could do to not march back over to the Pembrooke and demand Hiram leave his daughter alone for good or he would face dire consequences.

Unfortunately, Jughead knew he couldn’t do that.

Veronica would never forgive him if he ever harmed her father, no matter how venomous of a father he was.

But damn it if he didn’t want to punch the man square in the nose just once.

“Could you stop cracking your knuckles like that, Jones?” Sweetpea asked as he and Jughead sat outside one of the old drug dens Hiram had used for his Jingle Jangle trade.

There had been talk of some movement happening inside the abandoned building, but Jughead and Sweetpea had decided to case the place to make sure it was just some squatters and not anyone trying to restart something that would only end with the Serpents stomping it out once more.

“Do you ever think it’s kind of fucked up that Hiram Lodge punished Veronica for the mine explosion but hasn’t even sniffed around the Serpents?” Sweetpea asked as he stared ahead at the dark, dilapidated building.

Jughead nodded.

“It’s all he cares about, is making her miserable enough to run back to her daddy. He needs her to need him. But what he doesn’t realize is that Veronica would rather disappear from Riverdale altogether than go back to depending on him.”

Sweetpea let out a whistle.

“Wow, _really_? It’s _that_ bad? Like, she would actually leave town just to get away from him?”

Jughead nodded as his mind went back to the day that he and Veronica had wanted to get out of Riverdale for a little while. It was one of the hottest days of the sweltering summer and Jughead knew of a cool spring just a few towns over.

“The spring water isn’t as tepid as the Quarry can get during daylight, and not as dangerous as Sweetwater River. It’s the only place I can think of to cool off for a little while.” He’d told her as they stood in the kitchen of Pop’s and wrapped up a few sandwiches, chips, and sodas to put in his bag for their lunch.

“Sounds perfect!” Veronica had chirped as she gave him a big grin.

The prospect of getting away from their small town for a few hours had put her in an unusually good mood. And Jughead was happy to know that he had a hand in taking away some of the constant tension that she often wore like body armor.

And it was while they had been swimming in the cool springs that Veronica had first told him about how much she wanted to escape the stress of living in Riverdale, and her father, who was nothing but a constant dark cloud hanging over her and their small town.

“I don’t look at it as running away. I look at it as my own personal way of letting him know that I’m not afraid of being on my own. That I’m not afraid of something permanent somewhere else. That I can make it without his help and he can’t control my life if he doesn’t even know where I am. I just…I want to be _free_ , Jughead. I don’t feel free in Riverdale.”

The thought of Veronica leaving Riverdale tore at Jughead’s insides. He knew his life would never be the same if she left. All that would exist in her absence would be a lack of vivacity and excitement, electricity and passion. Because Veronica had brought all of those things with her when she came to Riverdale, and if she left, she’d be taking a part of Jughead with her.

It was a part of him that she had come to claim without even realizing it.

Jughead found himself agreeing with her, though his _own_ reasons for leaving Riverdale were a bit different.

“I never really felt like I fit in here. I’ve always felt like a misfit. There’s nothing wrong with _being_ a misfit, of course, but when people make you feel like shit for it on a constant basis, it gets really old. I just want to be somewhere that makes me feel accepted. I realize that I’m accepted by the Serpents, but only because of my dad. I live in his shadow, I live in the shadow of Archie, I even live in the shadow of Betty. I just want to be me and have it be okay.”

Veronica had looked at him thoughtfully.

“It is okay to be you, Jughead. And…I accept you. I always have, even when I haven’t shown it.” She’d said with a sincere smile as she took his hand in hers.

He had wanted to kiss her at that moment, like so many other moments before, but he was terrified.

It wasn’t a fear of rejection, necessarily, but the fear that if he kissed her, he’d never be able to let her go. But if leaving Riverdale was what she wanted, he’d have no choice but to put aside his own desires. He wanted nothing more than for Veronica to be happy.

“You wouldn’t actually let her leave, would you?” Sweetpea asked, pulling Jughead out of his somber thoughts.

Jughead sighed heavily.

“I would let her do whatever she needs to do, but yeah, not without a fight. Not without doing everything I could to convince her otherwise. But Veronica…when she makes up her mind about something, it’s almost impossible to get her to change it. It’s been _two_ years and Hiram has consistently caused problems for her. She’s _constantly_ having to watch her back. I don’t blame her for wanting to get away to have a normal life.”

Sweetpea nodded.

“Makes me want to bust that dude’s face in.” He said as he cracked his knuckles.

Jughead chuckled.

“Me too. I think about it all the time. But…I want Veronica to have at least _one_ man in her life that cares about how _she_ might feel instead of himself. I want that man to be me, even if I can’t be in her life the way I want to be.”

Sweetpea let out a quiet laugh.

“You’re a fucking noble motherfucker, Jones. And…I’m glad to know you love her so much. She deserves the best of everything.”

\---

 

Veronica stood behind the counter of Pop’s while Fred and Archie Andrews relayed to her some fantastic news.

“Turns out that your father has all his ‘employees’ label their files ‘HiLo Project’, so they found them on Meyer’s laptop full of false Health Department reports. Your report was among them. Needless to say, he was terminated immediately.” Mr. Andrews told her before taking a bite of his tuna sandwich.

Veronica smiled a smile full of relief. It had been the best news she’d heard in a long time.

“So this Vince Meyer guy was the only one at the department on my father’s payroll?” She asked hesitantly.

Fred Andrews nodded.

“Yep. Meyer sang like a bird once he was caught. To be honest, I think he was relieved to be caught. Being under the thumb of Hiram Lodge seems to be quite exhausting to the people that your father employs.”

Archie nodded his head in agreement.

“The Health Department also did a sweep over everyone’s computer, laptop, tablet, and work phone. And they’ll be on the lookout for anyone else that Hiram might potentially try to persuade to get involved in his schemes. I think it’s safe to say that the Health Department won’t be bothering you anymore.” Archie chimed in.

Veronica sighed as she came around the counter and gave each of the two Andrew’s men a big hug of thanks.

“Free Pop’s food for life for you two!” She cheered.

Archie and Fred chuckled.

“How about instead of free food, would you do me a favor and come over to our house for a home-cooked dinner before the Winter Formal? I know it’s probably been forever since you had a _real_ meal and not just diner food.”

Fred eyed an anxious, but hopeful, looking Archie. It was impossible for her to say no when she owed them both so much for helping her. She thought about Jughead, knowing he wouldn’t love the idea, just like she hadn’t been happy about him going with Betty to the dance. But it would definitely make it look even more convincing to anyone that might be closely watching, that she and Jughead had moved on.

“I’d be honored, Mr. Andrews. It’s been forever since I had some of your famous cooking.” She replied as she gave Archie a warm smile.

Archie smiled back, his cheeks flushed.

“Thank you, Veronica. That means a lot to us both.”

Veronica gave Fred and Archie one last hug before they headed out into the cold evening.

She sighed softly, feeling a surge of happiness burst through the mass of pain and sadness that she had been living with for the past few weeks. She knew her father would attempt to find something else to hang over her head in order to keep her away from Jughead, but for now, she was free of his iron fist.

She was just about to pick up the phone to call Jughead and tell him the news when the door of the diner chimed and a customer she hadn’t seen in a while walked in.

“Mr. Jones! Hi!” Veronica greeted cheerily.

But Jughead’s father had a worried grimace on his face as he took a seat at the counter.

“What’s wrong? Is Jughead okay?” She asked, her pulse racing at the sudden shock of panic that hit her.

But FP shook his head.

“Jughead is fine, Veronica. But…it’s Sweetpea that isn’t. Jughead is at the hospital with him as we speak. Apparently, after a few beers at the Wyrm, Sweetpea had gone to the Pembrooke to confront your father about how he’s forced you and Jughead to stay apart. Pea went off on him, and demanded that your father leave you alone for good or he would…he would kill him. He…Sweetpea…took a swing at your father. Apparently he got in a couple of good shots before Hiram’s security came rushing in.”

FP sighed deeply before continuing.

“They beat Sweetpea pretty bad. He looks god awful, Veronica. And Jughead feels like shit over it. It all stemmed from some conversation Jughead had with Sweetpea about you. What Jughead told him must have set Sweetpea off.”

Veronica used her palm to wipe away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. After such good news from Fred and Archie, she should have known that bad news would be right around the corner. Her heart broke for Sweetpea. Especially since she was the reason why he was in the hospital.

“Oh _God_ , Mr. Jones…I’m…I don’t even know what to _say_ …Is Sweetpea going to be okay?” She asked as she tried to get her thoughts together about what she could do to help.

FP shrugged.

“I…honestly don’t know yet. The doctor is still surveying the damage. We’re not sure what Sweetpea is in for as far as injuries and recovery. Apparently your father is fine. At least, he wasn’t admitted to the hospital, so that’s the assumption.”

Veronica shook her head as she went over to the coat rack by the door to grab her cape.

“I need to go see Sweetpea.”

She felt frantic and scared. All Sweetpea had been trying to do was help her. He didn’t deserve this.

“Veronica, wait.” FP said, holding up his hands for her to stop.

Veronica did as he asked as she pulled on her cape.

“This...this is just _one_ more thing your father has done to exert his power over your life. Things are coming to a climatic point. What else might happen before your father comes after _you_ next? I know you can’t imagine that he’d ever hurt you, but when it comes to Hiram Lodge…well…I wouldn’t put anything past him. And, if something happens to you…I don’t even want to think about what it will do to Jughead.”

Veronica stared at Jughead’s father, taking in the seriousness in his expression. He was genuinely concerned for not only his son, but her too. As much as she wanted to tell FP Jones that he was wrong, that her father would never lay a hand on her, or hire someone else too, she couldn’t. Because just like FP had said, she wondered if her dad _could_ possibly be capable of pretty much anything under the sun.

“What do you think I should do, Mr. Jones?” She asked, desperate for advice, her heart aching from knowing that her options were limited when it came to keeping herself safe.

FP sighed as he pulled out a folded paper from his leather jacket.

“I have an idea. Maybe you can tell me what you think of it.”

\---

 

Jughead sat in the waiting room of the Riverdale Hospital ER, waiting for more information about Sweetpea’s injuries and what it might mean for his Serpent brother.

He replayed his conversation with Sweetpea over and over in his mind, wishing he hadn’t said anything at all about Veronica’s situation with her father. Granted, he knew that Sweetpea had been spoiling for a fight with the father of his ex-girlfriend ever since they’d raided the mine where Hiram’s drug operation had been housed.

“There was an insane amount of Jingle Jangle in there, Jones. All I could think about was how just a handful of that shit would cause an overdose. The man is _literally_ trying to kill the people of Riverdale, and he started it all on the Southside.” Sweetpea had said when they’d had their debriefing the day of the raid.

Jughead had seen how unsettled Sweetpea was over the drugs, and add to it the fact that he still cared so much about Veronica. Knowing that Hiram was fucking with her livelihood and her relationship with Jughead had all come to a head.

He’d snapped.

“He’s so stupid for doing that. What was he _thinking_?” Fangs mumbled as he ran his hands over his face in frustration.

Jughead sighed.

“He _wasn’t_ thinking. Damn it, P.” He said quietly as he stared down the hallway that led to the rooms for emergency patients.

Jughead was just about to go back up to the information desk when he saw Veronica rushing through the entrance of the ER.

His eyes had never been happier to see anyone in his whole life, but his heart was riddled with grief and worry.

“Jug!” She broke into a run until she collapsed into him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“I’m so sorry.” She sobbed into his chest.

Jughead held her, breathed her in, and reveled in having her body so close.

“Who told you?” He asked, relieved to have her with him to hold onto.

Being strong came with the territory of being a Serpent, but having someone like Veronica by his side through the tough shit was the one thing he’d needed more than anything. Someone he could hang onto, who could so effortlessly hold him up.

“Your dad. He came by Pop’s. I feel so guilty, Jughead. I’ve already put in a call to have his medical bills paid for in full. I just…just tell me what else I can do?”

But before Jughead could even respond, he heard a shout behind him.

“Get her out of here! She’s the reason why Sweetpea could be back there _dying_ at this very minute!”

The stunned look on Veronica’s face broke his heart.

“Fangs, it’s not her fault! She isn’t her father.” Jughead replied as he took her hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly.

Fangs shook his head.

“I don’t _care_. She’s a Lodge, and Lodge’s only bring pain to everyone they come in contact with. She doesn’t need to be here, Jones. Not when our friend is fighting for his life all because he was trying to defend _her_.”

Jughead’s heart sank as several other Serpents nodded their heads and agreed with what Fangs had said.

He turned back to Veronica, who looked so guilt-ridden that all Jughead wanted to do was take her away and tell her it wasn’t her fault at all. It never has been nor could be.

“I’ll go.” She said quietly.

Jughead nodded.

“It might be best. But…I’ll keep you updated on Sweetpea, okay? This isn’t your fault, baby. Please don’t listen to Fangs.”

He watched as Veronica made a quick exit, wanting to get away from the glares of the other Serpents that were waiting to hear some news. He hoped to God that they would hear something soon, and that it would be good. He didn’t want to think about how the Serpents would feel about Veronica if Sweetpea didn’t make it.

But hours went by as Jughead paced the waiting room, his boots scuffing the pale green linoleum floor until, finally, an older man in a white doctor’s coat approached him.

“Mr. Jones?” He asked as he glanced at a clipboard in his hand.

“Yes! That’s me!”

The doctor smiled.

“I’m Dr. Small. I’ve been treating your friend, Peter Malone…um, Sweetpea, as you all seem to refer to him. He just got out of surgery. We had to set the bone is his left arm so that it will mend correctly with the help of a cast. He’s banged up pretty bad, and has several stiches as well as a broken rib in addition to his arm. Recovery will take some time and he’ll need a lot of rest. We’ll keep him a few nights for observation, but before we move him up to a room, he wants to see you.”

Jughead breathed a sigh of relief.

“He’s awake? And talking?” Jughead asked, realizing the answers to his questions were obvious but he was too relieved to care.

The doctor nodded.

“He’s just down the hall in room 36B.”

Jughead raced in the direction Dr. Small had pointed, thanking whatever God there was above that his friend would be okay.

 

To be continued…

 


	15. Chapter 15

Veronica buried her face in her hands as she struggled to get ready for the Winter Formal. She wasn’t in the mood to go to a dance, not in the way she would have been two years earlier. But she wanted to do something somewhat normal after how intense the last month had been. Even if going to the dance meant going with an ex-boyfriend all so she could see the other ex-boyfriend that she still loved and wanted to be with.

Now that Veronica and Jughead no longer had to live in fear of her father shutting down Pop’s or La Bonne Nuit, they would actually be able to spend some time together at the dance while also keeping their obligations to their dates. But she wasn’t sure _that_ would even be the case anymore.

“I can’t _believe_ you didn’t tell me sooner that you were going with fucking Archie Andrews to Winter Formal! You _know_ how I feel about him when it comes to women. He’s _always_ trying to steal what I have. And now he’s trying to win you back!” Jughead had said when he had come by La Bonne Nuit to see Veronica the night before to tell her that Sweetpea would be okay.

She had told him all about Fred Andrews finding the employee at the Health Department that had been working for her father. And that all Mr. Andrew’s had wanted in return was for her to have dinner with them and go to the dance with Archie.

“Archie probably planned all of this just so you would go to the dance with him. Even got his _dad_ involved. An ultimate girlfriend stealing ploy!” Jughead continued, causing Veronica to wince at how angry he was as he glared at her.

“Do you understand how paranoid you sound right now?” Veronica had asked him, beginning to get just as angry.

The fact that Jughead thought Archie had planned all of this, and that she was too stupid to see it, was unbelievably insulting.

“Archie isn’t trying to _steal_ me. Neither one of us had a date, and he did me a major favor, so we are going together as _friends_. Keep in mind that _you’re_ going with Betty Cooper, and she still has heart eyes whenever she sees you. It makes me sick to my stomach knowing that _she’s_ likely the one who is planning something, that letter stealing psychopath.”

The two were silent for a minute, neither one wanting to back down from the argument. But she saw the look on Jughead’s face soften just enough to remind her how he still had insecurities to work through, and she wanted nothing more than to make him feel confident in her love for him. If only he wasn’t being a complete jerk at the moment.

“If he lays one hand on you, I swear to _God_ …”

Veronica scoffed.

“What? You’ll hit him? Don’t be an idiot, Jughead.” She replied, rolling her eyes.

“Then don’t be naïve, Veronica!”

As angry as she was with him, she still wanted to kiss him right then and there. No matter how mad she ever got with him, she still wanted him constantly. And it had felt like forever since she’d last felt his lips on hers, but she was too proud to give in to what she wanted. And so was Jughead as he started to reach for her, but then caught himself.

She didn’t want to fight with him, not when she missed him so much, but they were both on edge and it was too easy to take it out on each other. Especially when she knew they’d forgive each other sooner than later.

But she wasn’t ready to apologize yet. Instead, she would go to the dance with Archie, looking like a smoke show, and then demonstrate to Jughead just how sorry she was once they found a dark, quiet corner.

“I’m _not_ being naïve. Now leave, Jughead. And don’t call me until you are ready to apologize for being such an ass about Archie doing something nice for me. For _us_. Because of him, your contract with my father is null and void.”

But Jughead had only shook his head as he grabbed his motorcycle helmet and stormed out of the club, leaving Veronica feeling a mixture of lust, anger, and sadness. A combination only Jughead could create in her.

So to distract herself as she began to put on her makeup, she thought about the conversation she’d had with Jughead during one of their few daytime outings during the summer while fishing for trout on the grassy banks of Sweetwater River.

It had been a typical hot, summer afternoon. The humidity was making her sweat even though she was barely moving as she sat with her legs crossed, fishing pole in hand.

But the occasional breeze sent a swirl of river mist over the two of them, reviving them both as they talked and downed some beers Veronica had snagged from the speakeasy bar.

“My friendship with Archie was so different when we were kids. There was never any competition, but I always envied him. He lived in a nice house in a nice neighborhood with a mom and dad who always made sure the bills were paid and always had a hot dinner sitting on the table in the evening. They showered Archie with attention and they cared about everything he did…and…I don’t think he ever knew how lucky he was.”

Jughead sighed thinking back to those days, and Veronica found herself wondering what a young Jughead must have been like. Her heart went out to him when he spoke of how tough things were while he was growing up. It was something she’d never really known about him, and the more she found out, the more she finally began to understand Jughead Jones and how she had misjudged him.

“When Archie’s parents separated, I hated it for him. He had a really hard time handling it. But selfishly, I felt he and I were more on the same level now. His life wasn’t so perfect anymore, and a part of me was happy about it. Does that make me a shitty friend?” He asked her as he pulled off his beanie, realizing it was just too hot to wear his security blanket in the form of a knit hat.

Veronica had chuckled, thinking about how many times she’d felt just how Jughead did when it came to a friend. Particularly Betty Cooper, the girl who was beloved by so many, and the town’s own sweetheart.

“Not at all. It’s normal to feel envy towards someone that seems to always have it better, no matter what. We’re only human. But it doesn’t make you a shitty friend.”

Jughead had smiled at her, relief on his face.

“It’s kind of like when you moved to Riverdale. I _knew_ Archie would end up with you. That he would win you over all the other guys…especially me.” He said, looking away.

Veronica could feel herself blushing, even with how hot her skin already was from the sun.

“Well…maybe if I had looked closer, paid more attention to certain _other_ guys…I wouldn’t have ended up with him at all.”

She saw the small smile on Jughead’s face at what she’d said, and it made her heart flutter.

They’d been dancing around their attraction for each other all summer. She knew it would all come to a breaking point eventually, and she got a buzz throughout her entire body at the thought of what it would be like when that day came.

It was the same excited feeling she felt now as she pulled on her new dress for the dance. She had bought it specifically for that night, specifically for Jughead. Through the tragedy of what had happened to Sweetpea, and the hard time being apart from each other, and the potential hard times to come, Veronica just wanted to celebrate the fact that her father’s contract with Jughead was worthless now that the Health Department contact was no longer a part of Hiram’s arsenal of henchmen.

She just needed a peaceful night with him until the next round of drama that would likely come their way.

But just as she was putting on her heels, her phone rang.

“Hey Arch!” She greeted cheerfully.

Archie didn’t sound quite as jovial as she was.

“Uh, hey, Ronnie.”

Veronica scowled as she looked herself over in her full length mirror. Archie sounded incredibly dismal.

“What’s up? Are we still on for the Formal?” She asked, hoping he was only calling to say he was running late.

“Well, uh…that’s the thing…I don’t think I can go to the dance at all. My dad and I…we’re waiting for my mom to arrive. We needed a lawyer, and as soon as possible.”

A wave of disappointment and worry washed over Veronica as she listened to Archie explain just why Mary Andrews was coming into Riverdale so suddenly.

“We got an eviction notice today…and when my dad called to find out why, the bank said that according to their records, no mortgage payments have been paid on our house in four months. So…our house is going into foreclosure.”

Veronica couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She knew that Fred Andrews occasionally struggled with money, but she also knew that he’d _always_ been responsible about getting bills paid. And that he would do whatever he had to in order to never lose Archie’s childhood home.

“But _how_? There must have been some oversight or some glitch in the system.” Veronica replied frantically, trying to help come up with some reason for why this was happening to someone as good and honest as Fred Andrews.

“No, Veronica…I have a feeling this is all coming from…from your dad. We helped you, and now your father is seeking his revenge.”

Veronica’s heart sank to the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t wanted to even entertain the idea, but she knew it was the truth. Hiram Lodge would never stop hurting the people that she cared about, the people who only wanted to help her. He would always find a way to get his payback.

“Oh my God, Archie…I’m so sorry…I’ll…just give me a few days and I can get you the money your dad needs to get out of this mess.”

She could hear Archie’s sigh on the other end, and it broke her heart.

“Veronica, you can’t keep trying to clean up your father’s messes. It’s not your responsibility. This isn’t your fault. Dad and I knew the risks when we got involved in this. We’ll be fine. My mom already has a motion ready to file. Please, don’t worry.”

But Archie’s kind words did nothing to take away the unbelievable amount of guilt she was feeling.

“I just…I _hate_ him, Archie. I can’t _take_ it anymore.” She said as she swallowed the sobs that were fighting to escape.

“I know, Ronnie. And I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through. I wish I had been there for you more over the past year. And…I’ll always be sorry for how things ended between us. I’ll always be sorry that things ended at all. If you want…you can come by after the dance…if you still plan on going.”

Veronica could hear the earnest tone in his voice, and she realized that maybe Jughead had been right after all.

“I think…I need to talk to Jughead, Arch. But I’ll call you tomorrow. I want to help, if I can.”

They said their goodbyes and hung up. The guilt over their conversation consumed her, and even though she was in no mood to go to a dance anymore, she had to see Jughead. He was waiting for her, and she needed him.

\---

 

Jughead was bored out of his mind as he kept surveying the front doors of the gymnasium, waiting for the inevitable crushing feeling of seeing Veronica on the arm of Archie Andrews.

Archie wasn’t known for his intellect, but he certainly had his game down when it came to women.

He had played Veronica right into the palm of his hand, and all Jughead could hope was that Veronica would realize it and not be tempted to give into Archie’s charms.

“You tell me not to question your love for _me_ , so why do you question my love for _you_?” She had asked him during their tense conversation the night before.

Jughead wasn’t sure how to explain to her that it wasn’t about him questioning how she felt about him, but more about how convincing Archie could be. But when it came down to it, Jughead knew it was his own insecurities that were messing with him. He never imagined he could have a girl like Veronica, and he wasn’t ready to lose her anytime soon, and certainly not to Archie.

He wasn’t mad anymore about Archie and Betty dating over the summer, not when he was over Betty. But what still stuck like a thorn in his side was that Archie had risked their friendship by getting involved with the only girl Jughead had ever let close to him.

And now that Jughead had given his heart to Veronica, he wouldn’t stand by idly and watch Archie try to take her from him too. He never wanted to have to fight Archie over a girl, but if he had to, he would. Because Veronica Lodge wasn’t just any girl, she was the _only_ girl.

“Hey, you okay?” Betty asked as she walked back over to where he stood by the stage while the band was on their break.

“Uh, yeah…great.” He replied, hardly able to conjure up any excitement that matched Betty’s.

“Think Veronica will show?” She asked as she glanced at the clock up on the gymnasium scoreboard.

It was getting late, and Jughead couldn’t deny the anxiousness he was feeling as he waited not so patiently.

“Yeah, I’m sure she will. She…you know…likes to ‘make an entrance by being fashionably late’, as she calls it.” He replied with a nervous chuckle as he adjusted his beanie.

Betty shook her head.

“Juggy, don’t forget that I know you very well. I can tell that you are having doubts. We can go somewhere to talk, if you want.”

But Jughead knew Betty just as well as she knew him, and he knew what the look in her eye meant.

“I don’t have doubts about Veronica. I just don’t trust Archie.” He shot back, not meaning to sound as annoyed as he was.

“Wow, you really _are_ in love with her.” Betty said, a look on her face as if she finally understood something she hadn’t really given any thought to before.

Jughead sighed.

“I am. And this whole mess her father created has fucked up what _should_ be an amazing night.”

Betty looked down at her hands as she laced them together.

“Jug, there’s something I should tell you.” She started, her voice sounding full of regret.

But before she had a chance to say anything more, Principal Weatherbee was standing at the microphone requesting everyone’s attention.

“It is with great pleasure that I announce to you all our Winter Formal King and Queen.” He was saying as Jughead watched one of the dance committee members lay a crown and a tiara on a small table on the stage.

It all just seemed like a run of the mill dance tradition being given way more attention than it was worth until Jughead heard both his and Betty’s names being called to the stage.

He shot a look at Betty, who gave him a guilty shrug.

“I can explain.” She mouthed as she took his beanie off his head and shoved it into his coat pocket.

But there wasn’t any time for any explanations as someone had come up behind the two of them, guiding them over to the steps that led up and onto the stage.

“Here they are! Your Winter Formal King, Jughead Jones, and your Winter Formal Queen, Betty Cooper!”

Jughead looked out into the sea of classmates, faces lit up from the blue stage lights, smiling brightly at the couple on stage.

He had never been on the other end of this before, and he never could have imagined that this was what it was like. Sure, he was king of the Serpents, but this was different. Having everyone he’d been going to school with since kindergarten cheering excitedly, whooping his name. He could now understand how someone could get caught up in the adrenaline of it. So he wasn’t totally surprised when Betty leaned over and kissed his cheek, her hand on his chest as the crowns were placed on their heads.

But then his eyes landed on one face in the crowd. The one face that mattered more than any of the others.

There stood Veronica, looking heartbreakingly gorgeous, watching from the opposite side of the stage where he had been standing with Betty. His heart sank realizing that she must have walked in just as he and Betty were being announced.

The look on her face was a mixture of shock and anguish, and all he wanted to do was go to her.

He began to pull away, but Betty had her arm linked through his, pulling him back.

“They’re cheering for _you_ , Juggy. Enjoy the moment. Veronica can wait.”

Jughead looked over at Betty, he hadn’t forgotten the deal they had made.

“Yes, she can wait while you explain to me what I’m even doing on this stage in the _first_ place.” He seethed through clenched teeth

The smile on Betty’s face suddenly faded as the music began to play, signaling everyone to begin dancing again, including Jughead and Betty. But there would be no dance for the newly crowned King and Queen.

“Okay, Jug. Let’s go.”

 

To be continued...

 


	16. Chapter 16

Veronica left the gymnasium as quickly as she had arrived.

She had been so ready to feel Jughead’s comforting arms around her, so ready to tell him the latest tragedy involving someone they cared about and how her father had enacted his revenge once again. She needed the complete safety that she only seemed to ever feel when she was with the man she loved.

But seeing Jughead on that stage with Betty, getting crowned King of the Winter Formal, looking so amazed by it, so handsome, and so happy, it had made her question what she should do.

She was so proud of him, but also confused. Had this been what he had meant when he’d told her that he owed Betty a favor? Was he her date just so that he could be King? She suddenly wished she had asked Jughead to tell her more about this favor he had owed Betty, but she had trusted him, so she hadn’t questioned him.

And Betty had looked so deliciously pleased with herself, making eye contact with Veronica before planting a kiss on Jughead’s cheek. The satisfaction she seemed to get out of hurting Veronica was something Veronica had never thought Betty would be low enough to do. But it was amazing what someone was capable of when they couldn’t let go of an ex.

Veronica couldn’t take it. Under normal circumstances, she would have gone up to Betty and told her to get her hands, and her lips, off of her man. But what had been going on lately wasn’t anything even remotely normal. All it did was add to the defeat she was being hit with constantly.

Her father had gone too far, and she knew he would never stop. No matter what she did in an attempt to vanquish him for good, he would continue to go after anyone and everyone that she loved.

The only thing she could think to do was to take herself out of the equation.

She had already begun to set a plan in motion, but she still had something else she needed to do.

Veronica got into her clunker of a car, the heat enveloped her in a warm comfort, a strange assurance that she’d be okay as long as she did what she needed to do.

She headed towards Archie Andrews house.

\---

 

“You have one minute to explain to me why you didn’t follow our deal.” Jughead fumed as he and Betty walked out into the corridor next to the gym.

All he could think about was the crushed look on Veronica’s face, and he wanted more than anything to go to her, but he wanted answers first.

“Well, I did…kind of. I mean, I took _Veronica_ off the ballot. And why does it even matter now? Your contract with Hiram doesn’t exist anymore.” Betty said with a sheepish grin.

Jughead shook his head, unamused.

“You were supposed to take _both_ of us off the ballot. That’s the only reason why I agreed to come to the dance with you. I honored our deal regardless of the contract. Why would you do this, Betty? I don’t understand.”

Betty sighed as she took the tiara off her head, as if she knew she didn’t entirely deserve it in that moment.

“Hiram Lodge. He paid me…he said that the only way to drive a wedge farther between you and Veronica was if you won King.”

Jughead felt a rage at the pit of his stomach unlike he’d ever felt before.

“And you actually went _along_ with it? Why? Do you really hate Veronica that much?”

Betty shook her head no.

“I just…it was a lot of money, Jughead, and for something so easy. And…I mean, I was jealous. I _hated_ losing you. I let the hurt of our breakup and the promise of cash get the best of me. When I saw Veronica in the gym, I allowed the jealousy to take over. I…I don’t know what got into me. I just…I miss you.”

Jughead ran a hand over his mouth in frustration, trying his best to not say anything he might regret.

“You know that now that you’ve let Hiram get to you, your life will only get more difficult, right?”

Betty nodded as tears welled in her eyes.

“I know. And I regretted it as soon as I agreed to it, but it was too late. And then Hiram threatened me into spying on you and Veronica. Jughead… _I’m_ the one who told Hiram about you and Veronica in the locker room.” She revealed as Jughead stared at her in horror.

“I’m _so_ sorry, Juggy. I did all of this shit without even realizing how much you really love her, and…the scheming…it just…it got the best of me. I’m really sorry.”

Jughead leaned back against the row of lockers, and sighed deeply.

“Jesus, Betty. You have no idea what Veronica has been dealing with, what she and I have _both_ been dealing with. And now you’ve just added more to the pot. I get that you two are no longer friends, and I’m sorry that my relationship with her has caused you pain…but…I don’t know how much more she can take.”

Betty lowered her head as she wiped her cheeks.

“I _really_ am sorry, Jughead. Please tell Veronica I’m sorry too.”

Jughead took the plastic, gold crown off his head and tossed it into a nearby trashcan.

“I will. And Betty, I understand why you did what you did, even though it wasn’t right. But…it’s got to stop. It _needs_ to stop.”

Betty nodded as she gave Jughead a regretful look. She looked as if she wanted to say more, but she didn’t, knowing nothing would redeem her at that moment.

Jughead didn’t say anything else as he left Betty behind and headed out of the school towards his motorcycle, wanting nothing more than to find his girl and explain everything to her, the way he should have done from the beginning.

He sent a text to Veronica before taking off towards her trailer, but she hadn’t responded. He had to find her, and he prayed that once he did, she would let him explain.

But she wasn’t home, so he drove by Pop’s. She wasn’t there either. Her car wasn’t even parked around back by the basement entrance of La Bonne Nuit.

Panic began to set in and his pulse raced as he drove by the one other place he thought she might be. And when he saw Veronica’s beat-up Ford Escort outside Archie Andrews house, he felt as though he was going to be physically sick.

He tried Veronica’s phone again, calling and leaving a message this time.

“Please call me back, baby. I need to talk to you. You need let me explain about the dance. Just…call me.”

He texted her two more times to no avail.

Jughead drove home, hoping that Veronica would call him to stop by her place before he made it to his own trailer.

But she didn’t call, even though he sat on the couch checking his phone every minute as the hours ticked by. He didn’t want to let his mind wander to what she had been doing at Archie’s house. He hoped to God that she hadn’t done what he feared she might have done. That Archie could have somehow managed to do exactly what Jughead knew Archie had been planning to do. To get Veronica back.

Jughead realized he had fallen asleep at some point during his waiting to hear from her when he woke up, the sun shining on his face from the window curtain being suddenly opened.

“Wake up, Jug.”

Jughead rubbed his eyes, the couch sinking next to him as FP took a seat.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

FP Jones handed his son a cup of steaming, hot coffee from Pop’s and Jughead wondered just how late he’d slept. The look of confusion on his face must have been obvious because FP immediately explained.

“It’s still early, but I stepped out before dawn to meet up with Veronica. She didn’t want me to tell you this, but I think I need to.”

Jughead frowned, not at all happy with the tone in his father’s voice.

“Why would she tell _you_ something that she can’t tell _me_?” He asked before taking sip of the hot beverage.

FP chuckled somberly.

“Because she knows you very well, and didn’t want you to do anything impulsive. But…I think in this case, maybe you should.”

Jughead could hear the sorrow in his dad’s voice, and he was instantly concerned.

“What, dad? What is she going to do?”

FP shook his head.

“It’s what she’s already done, and what she’s doing right now as we speak.”

FP paused, shaking his head before continuing.

“She just sold Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit to me…and now she’s leaving Riverdale…and I don’t know for how long.”

Jughead’s mouth dropped open as his heart thudded brutally in his chest.

“Wh- _what_?” He asked faintly, hoping he was still asleep and this was some awful dream.

FP handed Jughead a sheet of paper, proving everything he’d just said. It was a contract that had been drawn up by Mary Andrews and sighed by FP and Veronica.

“How in the world were you even able to buy both businesses?” Jughead asked, quickly realizing why Veronica had been at Archie’s the night before.

FP sighed.

“Let’s just say that Veronica gave me a very good deal. She is desperate to get out of Riverdale and away from Hiram. I tried everything to convince her to not leave. I even asked her how in the world she could leave _you_. She said you’d be better off without her.”

Jughead shot up from the couch.

“I gotta go, dad. I can’t let her go!”

FP shook his head adamantly.

“It’s a done deal, son. She’s packing up as we speak. She asked for my truck as part of our deal. Veronica will be gone from Riverdale before the afternoon.”

Jughead had never felt such a feeling of loss in his whole life until that moment. He couldn’t be without Veronica, and he _wouldn’t_ be without Veronica.

“Then I have to go too, dad.”

FP let out a long exhale as he gazed at his son. He stepped forward and threw his arms around Jughead, exhaling heavily.

“I know. Pack a bag quickly, my boy. And take care of each other.”

\---

 

“That’s the last of it.” Veronica said to herself as she placed one last suitcase in the bed of the pickup truck that she now owned.

She forced herself to hold back the tears that had been threatening to spill over ever since she’d signed away her livelihood to FP Jones, the only person she knew who would take care of the diner and the club just as she had.

The contract had a clause indicating that the name of the new owner would not be made public record. Veronica wasn’t about to risk her father trying to screw over FP. And fortunately, he’d never expect the new owner to be FP Jones in the first place seeing as how the businesses were worth a lot more than she sold them for.

Veronica knew her father would never expect to sell, much less sell for such a low asking price. But it was worth it to have peace of mind that the diner and speakeasy were now owned by someone that Veronica knew she could trust. And she trusted Jughead’s father just as much as she trusted Jughead.

“Don’t worry about Fred and Archie. I’ll get the mortgage situation under control. And we’ll protect Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit with every legal avenue we can, Veronica. Don’t worry. We’ll protect what you’ve worked so hard to maintain.” Mary Andrews had said.

She had sold Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit to Jughead’s father at a more than reasonable rate. All she had really wanted in return was FP’s truck and enough money to live off of for the next six months. 

She didn’t know where she would end up, but she knew she had to get far enough away from her father’s reach as she could.

It meant leaving Jughead, which was so painful that Veronica wasn’t sure her heart could take it. Even with how upset she’d been after she saw him at the dance, she still loved him more than anything in the world. Selling Pop’s and the speakeasy was nothing compared to the agony of leaving Jughead. She knew she would never forgive herself for it, and she would never get over him.

She was so heartbroken that all she wanted was to just get in the truck and get as far away from Riverdale as fast as she could. She would drive for as long as she could until she was able to just collapse somewhere and cry for everything that had happened over the past two years, and how it had all come to a head in the past two months.

But suddenly, out of nowhere, she heard a familiar motorcycle. She didn’t even have to turn around to know that Jughead was approaching, and fast.

“Damn it, FP.” She mumbled, but deep down, she wanted nothing more than to see Jughead one last time, no matter how gut wrenching saying goodbye would be. She had to hold him and kiss him one last time.

“I’m coming with you!” Jughead shouted as soon as he’d cut the engine on his bike.

Veronica turned around slowly, ready to object, but Jughead was already off of his bike, putting up his hand as he carried a duffle bag in the other.

“Don’t, Veronica. You’re _not_ going alone. There’s no fucking way I’m letting you leave without me.”

Veronica’s shoulders sagged from what felt like every single burden she’d been carrying for way too long.

“Jug…you…you shouldn’t leave. What about the Serpents? What about your dad? What about school?”

But Jughead shook his head confidently, smirking.

“You know that the only thing that matters to me right now is being with you.” He said as he slung his bag into the back of the truck and grabbed her waist, pulling her body against his.

Veronica’s heart thundered in her chest at the contact, at the way he was looking at her.

It felt like being home.

“I left the Serpents in good hands. You could say that I owed Sweetpea _big_ time. As far as my dad, he’s more than ready to be a legit businessman. Thanks to you. And school is school, we’re almost done and we both can finish online.”

Veronica had been ready to argue with him, but he seemed so sure, so certain. The exhaustion she’d been feeling for so long was fading.

“But…I mean…we’d essentially be… _living_ together…that’s a big step, Jughead. Do you think we’re ready for that?”

Jughead smiled deviously as he fished around in his pocket and pulled out a small box. Veronica’s pulse raced realizing just what Jughead might be keeping inside of it.

“I have something that I’m ready to give to you when the time is right. When shit doesn’t feel so chaotic and your father is far behind us.” He said with a nervous chuckle before continuing.

”Veronica, you know just as much as I do that we belong together. Forever. And forever starts now.”

He reached out his hand, stroking her cheek as she leaned into his touch.

“I love you, Lodge, and I want to be by your side on this next journey. We both talked about leaving Riverdale at some point. I want us to leave this place together.”

Veronica wound her arms around him, resting her cheek against his chest.

“Okay.” She replied simply, not about to argue with something she knew they both wanted.

“Thank you, Jughead. I promise we’ll come back someday. Someday when my father is no longer a threat to everyone I care about here.”

Jughead kissed the top of her head as he held her.

“It’s time for you to have some peace, Veronica. And we’ll find it together.”

 

The End.

 

***Please stay tuned for an Epilogue to Last Summer coming soon...***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all of you who read this story, left kudos, left notes, etc. I hope you all enjoyed this and I especially hope that @jeronicaismylife liked this gift.
> 
> The support that so many of you give to me and my writing is something that I can never thank you all enough for. Please stick with me as I continue to bring you more Jeronica fic.
> 
> THANK YOU! XOXO


	17. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue to Last Summer.

“Good morning, Mrs. Jones.”

Veronica smiled at the way Jughead murmured in her ear as the sun began to peak through the shutters of their small rental house in Half Moon Bay, California.

They had been married for a week already, but she never got tired of him waking her up with the simple reminder that she was now Veronica Jones.

It had been a simple wedding, at a quaint estate up high on a bluff that overlooked the dark blue waves of the Pacific Ocean. They had only invited a few of the friends they had made in the three years since they had moved from Riverdale to the quiet, ocean front town, wanting to keep the wedding as secretive as possible.

Even after three years of living on the opposite side of the country from Hiram Lodge, Veronica still wanted to keep as low of a profile as possible.

“My dad sent us a celebratory bottle of champagne. Want a mimosa?” Jughead asked as Veronica turned around to face him.

She shook her head no.

“You’ve got the only thing I want.” She purred as her hand played under the bed covers, searching out the part of Jughead that always gave her endless hours of pleasure.

Jughead sucked in a breath as he closed his eyes.

“Holy shit…” He groaned as Veronica sat up to position herself on top of her husband.

It was still surreal to think that she was married to Jughead Jones. She felt luckier than any other woman on earth, and she’d never been more honored by anything in her life.

Veronica smiled when she noticed how her wedding ring gleamed in the morning sunlight as she ran her hands down Jughead’s chest.

“Making you my wife was the smartest thing I’ve ever done.” He said with a smirk as she rolled her hips on top of him.

He gripped her waist, assisting with the way she moved on top of him by pushing himself deeper inside of her.

“I completely agree.” She sighed before leaning down to kiss his neck, nipping the soft skin tenderly as she ground her clit against him.

Jughead’s hands slid up and down her bare back, grabbing her ass, making her moan his name in his ear before turning her over so he was now on top of her.

Veronica immediately wrapped her legs around his torso keeping him in place so he was still buried inside her as deep as he could go. She reached for his face, wanting to pull him down to her for a kiss, but he wouldn’t let her, instead teasing her by tensing up his neck so that she finally pulled herself up to him by grabbing his shoulders, desperate to have his lips on hers.

Jughead’s body collapsed onto hers, her breasts pressed against his chest, their hearts pounding wildly in unison. He held her head in his hand while the other grabbed her thigh, holding it up for leverage so he could thrust into her harder, wanting to make her come as many times as possible.

And he watched with complete satisfaction as she bit her bottom lip and fisted her hands in his hair, the indication that she had reached her height of pleasure, and Jughead’s cue to give her more of what he’d just done to her.

“Oh god…fuck yes...” She panted as her body bucked and undulated into his, her skin slick with a sheen of sweat from the passion between them.

“I’m not done.” He growled as they locked eyes, their bodies still moving together.

“Thank god.” Veronica replied with a chuckle as Jughead leaned down to kiss her.

That was how most mornings, and evenings, went for the couple. And it never got old.

\---

Things hadn’t been easy when they’d first left Riverdale. Jughead and Veronica had no idea where they were headed, all they knew was that they were going to head west and keep going until they were as far as they could get while still in the country.

It had been trouble with FP’s truck while the two were traveling the California coastline that landed them in Half Moon Bay. They had immediately fell in love with the coastal town with the laid-back, quiet kind of life they were both looking for.

It wasn’t long before they were both finishing up high school online before registering for college classes. Jughead had decided to go for a journalism degree while Veronica settled on business management.

Going to school was slow-going since they both had to work in order to make ends meet. So Veronica had gotten a job as a manager at a small bistro in the heart of downtown while Jughead became a freelance writer for several publications around northern California.

“Would you like another cup of coffee, sir?” Veronica would flirtatiously ask her fiancé whenever Jughead came into the bistro to do his writing and also spend some time with the woman he couldn’t wait to marry soon.

“Among other things.” He’d reply with a sly grin.

They were happy and had found the peace they had been searching for after a month driving across the country after they had left Riverdale.

The only person the couple communicated regularly with was FP, who would fill them both in on what was going on back home.

“Hiram has been frantic with trying to find out where you are, Veronica. Took him almost a week to even realize that you had sold Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit and had left town.”

Veronica hadn’t felt the least bit guilty about her secret escape right under her father’s nose.

“Well, he can look all he wants, but he won’t find me. I made sure of it.” She had replied as she gazed at her new social security number and driver’s license under the name Monica Posh.

Now that she was married, she went by Nic Jones, but behind closed doors, Jughead still called her “my Veronica” and she melted every single time.

About a year and a half into their new life in California, Jughead had taken Veronica for a walk out on the docks of the marina. It was a beautiful summer night, not a cloud hanging above as the sun began to set and stars began to dot the watercolor washed sky.

“Wow, doesn’t that look _so_ romantic?” Veronica had commented when she saw the deck of a small houseboat filled with candles on every available surface surrounding a table set for two.

“It does. Want to jump on board?” Jughead asked with a devious grin.

Veronica chuckled.

“Yeah, the _last_ thing we need to be doing is getting arrested. Especially on the anniversary of the night we first…you know…” She said as she raised an eyebrow at him.

Jughead’s face flushed, and she loved knowing that the memory of that night that she and Jughead had first made love at the Quarry still had such an effect on him.

“We won’t get arrested.” Jughead had said with a smirk as he jumped onto the boat and turned to hold out his hand to her.

“Jughead! What are you doing?” She asked as she looked around frantically, hoping no one was watching her boyfriend break the law so unabashedly.

“Taking you out to dinner. All of this…it’s for you, Veronica.”

Jughead chuckled as Veronica looked at him completely speechless.

“I mean, I didn’t buy the boat, but I did arrange the dinner _on_ the boat. It’s ours for the night.”

Veronica had shook her head in disbelief as a smile formed on her lips.

“Very sneaky of you, Jones.” She said as she held out her hand and allowed Jughead to help her onto the boat.

Jughead shrugged as he wrapped his arms around Veronica’s waist.

“I just wanted tonight to be special. We’ve been through a lot over the past two years.”

The driver of the boat that Jughead had hired had taken the couple to a small island a few miles outside of the bay while Veronica and Jughead ate their dinner of sushi and white wine from Veronica’s favorite restaurant in town.

“Wow, Jug, I think this just _might_ be the tiniest bikini I have ever come across.” Veronica said after she had changed into the dark purple bikini Jughead had bought for her to go swimming in.

It looked a lot like the one she had worn the night they’d gone to the Quarry, but left a lot less to the imagination than the original did.

“ _Damn_ …” Was all he could say in return as he looked her over from head to toe, feeling his cock twitch at the sight.

He still had a hard time believing she was really his as she turned around, showing it off and eliciting an approving whistle from Jughead.

They made love under the stars all night, just like they had two years earlier. And when it was time to board the houseboat to head back home, they both had the familiar feeling of sand on their backs and in their hair, tender lips from hours of kisses, and hearts beating rapidly from the love that was still just as strong, if not stronger, than it had been the last time they’d been like this together.

“Veronica, I have something I want to give you.” Jughead said nervously as the two sat on the deck, wrapped up in soft robes and each other as the waves rolled ahead.

He took Veronica’s hand and placed a folded piece of notebook paper in her palm.

She wasn’t sure what it was at first, but then quickly realized what Jughead had just given to her.

“Is this?” She whispered as she unfolded the paper.

Jughead nodded, smiling bashfully.

“It’s the letter. I’d been holding onto it, wanting just the right moment to give to you so you could finally read it.”

Veronica felt her pulse racing as her heart thudded hard in her chest.

“Oh Jug…I thought you’d thrown it away.” She replied as she looked at him with tears beginning to form in her eyes.

But Jughead shook his head no.

“Never. Go ahead and read it.” He urged as he sat back to give her some space.

Veronica wiped a tear from her cheek as she began to read the words that had been lost two years earlier.

_Veronica,_

_As a writer, it should be easy for me to come up with words to say to express how I feel. I want to say everything that I need to say to you in the most eloquent and forthright way possible. But when it comes to you, everything I want to tell you gets jumbled and runs together and I know it probably wouldn’t make any sense coming out of my mouth. So, as always, putting it down on paper is the best way for me to tell you how I feel without ruining it with my inability to be normal._

_Veronica, this summer has been the best summer of my life. I never thought I would say that, and I’m sure you never expected me to, but it’s the wholehearted truth. I saw a side of you that I had never allowed myself to see before, and what I’ve seen is everything I could ever want in a friend. And not just a friend, but even more. You are exquisite in every sense of the word, and I am honored and humbled to even know you._

_Last night was incredible. Last night you gave yourself to me in a way I never imagined you ever would and I can’t even put into words what it meant to me. But the one thing that I can put into words is what last night made me want to finally tell you._

_Over these past several weeks that we’ve been spending time together, not only have I come to cherish you as a friend, but as a person who I want to be in my life for as long as you’re willing to let me be a part of yours. Veronica Lodge, I have been falling in love with you this summer. I don’t know how you feel about me, but I hope last night means that you feel the same way. And if you do, I want to ask you if you would be willing to take a chance on me? I would be good to you, Veronica. I would give you everything I have and strive to give you even more. If you will have me, I promise I will do everything I possibly can to make you the happiest woman that has ever walked this earth or the heavens._

_I will be waiting for your reply. But no matter what, my heart is yours and yours alone._

_Sincerely,_

_Jughead Jones III_

 

Tears were rolling down Veronica’s cheeks as she refolded the letter, feeling an incredible urge to hold the man who had written such wonderful words of love to her two years earlier.

She looked over at Jughead who was watching her closely.

“Don’t feel bad, baby. Even though I wrote those words two years ago, you weren’t meant to read them until now. Because right _now_ is the moment I was waiting for. The moment that I told you about a year and a half ago outside of your trailer.”

Veronica nodded as she wiped her eyes.

Jughead stood up before getting down on one knee in front of her just as the boat was pulling up to the marina dock.

“Veronica Lodge…” He said as he took a small box out of his robe and opened it, revealing a sparkling diamond ring inside.

Veronica’s hand immediately touched her lips, amazed at how beautiful the ring was that Jughead had been hiding away ever since the day they left Riverdale.

“Will you make me the luckiest man in the universe…and marry me?”

The rest had been a blur of kisses and tears and murmurs of “Yes.”

And even though there had been a lot of important people missing from their wedding day, it had still been the most wonderful day of Jughead and Veronica’s life together.

They had put off their honeymoon until the following week, which, after their morning romp, they were finishing their packing for.

“Dad called yesterday and said they threw a party at La Bonne Nuit in honor of our wedding.” Jughead was saying as he and Veronica stood in their small bathroom side by side, packing up their toiletries for their newlywed trip to Calakmul, Mexico.

Veronica smiled at the thought of their loved ones back in Riverdale throwing a party to celebrate their long awaited marriage.

Everyone seemed to be doing well ever since she and Jughead had left Riverdale. It only solidified the fact that Veronica knew it would be the best thing for everyone if she left to get away from her father.

She knew Hiram had looked for her, seeing as how her lawyer had hired a private detective to keep tabs on any kind of movement her father would be making in her absence. But daddy Lodge hadn’t been able to find her, even when he’d tried to bribe and threaten anyone and everyone to tell him something, _anything_.

And he still didn’t know who the owner of Pop’s and La Bonne Nuit were, but both businesses were just as lucrative as always and Hiram hadn’t been able to touch either place due to all the measures Veronica and FP had put into place before Veronica had left town.

Veronica felt as if she’d finally moved on from all the pain her father had caused her. Being married to Jughead, having established herself in a place she loved, looking forward to the successes that would surely be coming down the road for her and Jughead, it was all enough to give her the peace she had so desperately wanted when she had still been in Riverdale.

“Have I told you today that I love you?” Veronica asked her husband as she took his hand in hers.

Jughead grinned from ear to ear.

“Yes, but I never get tired of hearing you say it.”

He leaned down and kissed her, and just as she was about to try and persuade him to put off the rest of their packing for another hour, Veronica’s cell phone rang.

It was Mary Andrews.

“Hey Mrs. Andrews, how are you?” Veronica asked, confused as to why Archie’s mom was calling her so unexpectedly.

“I’m fine, Veronica. But…your father…he isn’t.”

Veronica could feel the lump forming in her throat at the mention of Hiram.

“What’s going on?” Veronica managed to ask as she looked up at Jughead, his face full of concern.

She heard Mary take a deep breath before revealing the reason for her call.

“Hiram was found dead early this morning. The medical examiner hasn’t yet released what he died from but the word is that it was a heart attack. His attorney already contacted me and explained that in the event of Hiram passing, everything he owns goes to you.”

Mary paused briefly before continuing.

“Veronica, you need to come back to Riverdale. And as soon as possible.”

Veronica felt as if she could barely breathe by what she was hearing.

“Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She managed to reply before hanging up.

Jughead cupped her face in his hands, obviously worried about the way the color had drained from Veronica’s face all of a sudden.

“What was that about?” He asked as he searched her eyes.

Veronica was still in shock, but she looked at the half packed bags around them.

“We’re going to have to put the honeymoon off a little longer, Jug.” She said, not sure what she was supposed to feel in that moment.

She wasn’t sure if she was relieved, sad, angry, or elated. All she knew was that her father was definitely no longer a threat to her life.

“Why?” Jughead asked, confused.

“My father died, and it looks like it’s time to go back to Riverdale.”

 

The End.

 

 


End file.
